Department of Urology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0247, USA.
Urology. 2010 May;75(5):1029-33. doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2009.10.053. Epub 2010 Jan 18.
To investigate direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs that are relevant to urological conditions. Evidence suggests that DTCA of prescription drugs increase pharmaceutical sales. Concern about such advertising methods has recently increased owing to the market withdrawal of heavily marketed drugs that were found to have serious health risks.
Three consecutive issues of 26 popular magazines during a 3-month period were screened for urology-related DTCA. Advertisements were abstracted using a standardized evaluation form that was pilot-tested in a separate sample of nonurological advertisements. Variables analyzed included the type of advertisement, claims of effectiveness, references of research studies, inducements, and use of tables, figures, and pictures.
We identified 8 unique DTCA in 4 different magazines (Ladies Home Journal, Golf Digest, Sports Illustrated, and Good Housekeeping). All advertisements were disease-specific and targeted patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia-related symptoms (n = 3), incontinence (n = 3), or erectile dysfunction (n = 2). The median number of claims made per DTCA was 3 (range, 2-6). None of the claims made were supported by research data, as presented in tables or figures, or referenced peer-reviewed publications. The most common types of appeals addressed symptom control (8/8), lifestyle improvement (7/8), effectiveness (4/8), and dependability (3/8), while none addressed drug safety.
DTCA of prescription drugs for urological conditions are found in select journals and focus on few highly prevalent conditions. None of the advertisement claims identified in this study were supported by research data. There seems to be significant room for improvement in the quality of information provided by urological advertisements.
调查与泌尿科相关的处方药物的直接面向消费者的广告（DTCA）。有证据表明，处方药物的 DTCA 增加了药品销售。由于发现一些市场推广力度很大的药物存在严重的健康风险，因此最近人们对这种广告方式的担忧有所增加。
在 3 个月的时间内，对 26 种热门杂志的连续 3 期进行筛选，以寻找与泌尿科相关的 DTCA。使用经过预试验的标准化评估表来摘录广告，该预试验是在一组非泌尿科广告中进行的。分析的变量包括广告类型、有效性声明、研究参考资料、诱导因素以及表格、图表和图片的使用。
我们在 4 种不同的杂志（《女性家庭杂志》、《高尔夫文摘》、《体育画报》和《好管家》）中发现了 8 个独特的 DTCA。所有广告都是针对特定疾病的，针对的是与良性前列腺增生相关症状（n = 3）、尿失禁（n = 3）或勃起功能障碍（n = 2）的患者。每则 DTCA 提出的主张中位数为 3 个（范围，2-6）。没有一则主张得到表格或图表中呈现的研究数据或同行评议出版物的支持。最常见的诉求类型包括症状控制（8/8）、改善生活方式（7/8）、有效性（4/8）和可靠性（3/8），而没有涉及药物安全性。
在某些期刊中发现了与泌尿科相关的处方药物的 DTCA，并且主要集中在少数几种高度流行的疾病上。本研究中确定的广告主张没有一个得到研究数据的支持。在泌尿科广告提供的信息质量方面似乎有很大的改进空间。
