Attitudes and behaviors of psychiatry residents toward pharmaceutical representatives before and after an educational intervention.

OBJECTIVE

The authors sought to determine the effect of an educational seminar on interactions with pharmaceutical representatives on residents' attitudes and behavior.

METHOD

A controlled trial of an educational intervention was conducted. Residents at a university-affiliated residency program (N=32) were divided into two groups: one group (N=18) received a 1-hour educational intervention, while the other group (N=14) served as a control. Both groups completed a 33-item survey before the intervention and 2 months after the intervention.

RESULTS

Residents interacted substantially with pharmaceutical representatives. The majority of residents found the interactions and gifts useful and believed their prescribing practices were not influenced. Compared to the comparison group, the intervention group significantly decreased the reported number of office supplies and noneducational gifts, but showed no change in attitude toward pharmaceutical representatives and their gifts.

CONCLUSION

One-time educational interventions may have significant impact on psychiatric residents' targeted gift-accepting behavior but little effect on attitudes.