DO PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADVERTISEMENTS FACILITATE INFORMED DECISION MAKING?

Purpose:  Prescription drug advertising has remained controversial since it first became more prominent in 1997. The pharmaceutical industry argues that advertising helps consumers make informed decisions about prescription drugs, an assertion that has been disputed by opponents of the practice. The present study examined how consumers interpret advertisements for cholesterol-lowering drugs and whether these facilitate informed decision-making.

Methods:  Participants were recruited from the general population to watch nine prescription drug advertisements recorded from television, including ads for four cholesterol-lowering drugs. At the time of recruitment, participants were told that they would be viewing general health programming, in order to avoid topical bias.  Participants (N=30) were adults between the ages of 25 and 65, balanced by gender (53% male, 47% female) and evenly divided between those with health insurance and the uninsured.  Participants were predominantly Caucasian (67%), followed by African-American and Latino individuals (13% each), with the remaining participants reporting mixed ethnic background (7%). Participants answered open-ended questions designed to probe the messages and impressions they took away from the ads, as well as their preferences with respect to pharmacological and lifestyle treatment options.  Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed.  Open-coding methods were used to explore the range of responses and identify recurring themes.

Results:  While some participants felt that certain ads were credible and had some educational value (30%), participants were more likely to identify the ads as marketing tools (63%) and often found the information untrustworthy, incomplete or misleading (57%).  Many participants expressed a desire for data on the effectiveness of drugs or other information not included in the ads (57%).  The inclusion of general information about side effects without frequency data was understood in simplistic terms that often seemed to provoke anxiety (33%). A few respondents identified positive reminder messages about healthy lifestyle choices (13%) while others heard messages contrary to public health recommendations that prioritize prevention (33%). These included that medication could substitute entirely for lifestyle change or might enable continuation of unhealthy lifestyle choices without consequences. 

Conclusions:  Our findings indicate that the ads currently have very limited value as a method for helping consumers make informed decisions.  Policy and regulatory changes may be necessary to improve the educational performance of prescription drug ads.