Quick Facts
"Consumer Reports on the Health Effects of Direct-to-Consumer
Advertising of Prescription Drugs"
Study conducted by Harvard Medical School and
Harris Interactive
Note: A "DTCA visit" is a visit to a physician in which direct-to-consumer
advertising of a prescription medicine prompted the patient to have
a discussion about an advertised medicine or other health related
concern.
- DTCA motivates patients to educate themselves about their health
care through increased dialogue at the doctor's office. About
35% of respondents were prompted by an ad for a medicine to have
a discussion about a DTCA medicine or other health related concern
during a visit with their physician.
- Patients are receiving medical attention for conditions that
were discovered at a DTCA physician visit. One in four patients
with a DTCA visit received a new diagnosis; approximately 43%
of these new diagnoses were high priority conditions.
- Frequently under-diagnosed and under-treated conditions in
the U.S., including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes,
and depression, are being discovered through DTCA visits.
- Many participants who received and took a medicine prescribed
during a DTCA visit indicated an improved quality of life. About
four in five patients who were prescribed a medicine (not necessarily
an advertised medicine) said they felt better after taking the
medicine, and a similar proportion reported improved symptoms.
Among the subset with lab tests, four in five had results showing
a change for the better.
- DTCA visits prompted actions at the doctor's office other than
prescribing the advertised drug:
- 33% of visits prompted a specialist referral
- 57% of visits prompted lab tests
- 19% prompted recommendations for over-the-counter medications
- 52% prompted recommendations to incorporate lifestyle changes,
and
- 34% prompted recommendations to reduce smoking or drinking
- DTCA helps patients to manage patient care by empowering the
patient to play a more active role in their health care. Out of
86% of respondents who saw or heard a DTC ad in the last year,
20% improved their diet and 18% said they were better about taking
their medicines due, in part, to the ad.
- Nearly half of patients who had a DTCA visit were told that
the advertised prescription medicine was not right for them and
were not prescribed the advertised drug.
For
a copy of the study, please visit the Health Affairs website.
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