Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patient Perception and Clinical Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Digestive Diseases and Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

With an increasing number of available therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), little is known about patients’ attitudes regarding IBD-related direct-to-consumer advertising (IBD-DTCA) and its impact on treatment decisions in clinical practice.

Methods

We administered a 58-item, mailed questionnaire to patients with IBD receiving Gastroenterology subspecialty care at a large academic health system. The survey assessed patient awareness and perception of IBD-DTCA and its effect on IBD treatment discussions and decisions. We used bivariate analysis to evaluate patient-level factors associated with awareness and favorable perception of IBD-DTCA.

Results

We achieved a response rate of 15.2% (n = 226 of 1486). Most patients (93.3%) reported awareness of IBD-DTCA, with adalimumab receiving the most exposure. A majority of respondents reported IBD-DTCA made them more aware of treatments they otherwise would not know about (53.6%), provided information in a balanced manner (63.5%), and taught them about new potential risks and side effects (64.5%). Patients without a college degree and those with a household income less than $75 k per year perceived IBD-DTCA more favorably. However, IBD-DTCA rarely changed IBD management, with only 7.6% of respondents having a discussion with their provider about the advertised drug and only two (0.9%) being initiated on the advertised drug.

Conclusion

IBD patients were aware of IBD-DTCA and perceived it favorably; however, IBD-DTCA rarely led to patient-provider discussions or changes in treatment regimen.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Schwartz LM, Woloshin S. Medical marketing in the United States, 1997–2016. JAMA. 2019;321:80–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Rubin PH. Pharmaceutical advertising as a consumer empowerment device. J Biolaw Bus. 2001;4:59–65.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Deshpande A, Menon A, Perri M 3rd, et al. Direct-to-consumer advertising and its utility in health care decision making: a consumer perspective. J Health Commun. 2004;9:499–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Calfee JE. The role of marketing in pharmaceutical research and development. Pharmacoeconomics. 2002;20:77–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ventola CL. Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising: therapeutic or toxic? Pham Ther. 2011;36:669–684.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bell RA, Wilkes MS, Kravitz RL. The educational value of consumer-targeted prescription drug print advertising. J Fam Pract. 2000;49:1092–1098.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Kaphingst KA, Rudd RE, Dejong W, et al. Comprehension of information in three direct-to-consumer television prescription drug advertisements among adults with limited literacy. J Health Commun. 2005;10:609–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kaphingst KA, Rudd RE, DeJong W, et al. Literacy demands of product information intended to supplement television direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements. Patient Educ Couns. 2004;55:293–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kontos EZ, Viswanath K. Cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising: a critical review. Nat Rev Cancer. 2011;11:142–150.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Improvements needed in FDA’s oversight of direct-to-consumer advertising. In: General Accountability Office; 2006. Available at: https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-758T. Accessed 8/1/2019.

  11. Shaw A. Direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals: DTC regulation. In: Proquest. 2008. Available at: www.csa.com/discoveryguides/direct/review3.php. Accessed 8/1/2019.

  12. Abel GA, Burstein HJ, Hevelone ND, et al. Cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising: awareness, perceptions, and reported impact among patients undergoing active cancer treatment. J Clin Oncol. 2009;27:4182–4187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Law MR, Majumdar SR, Soumerai SB. Effect of illicit direct to consumer advertising on use of etanercept, mometasone, and tegaserod in Canada: controlled longitudinal study. BMJ. 2008;337:a1055.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Spence MM, Teleki SS, Cheetham TC, et al. Direct-to-consumer advertising of COX-2 inhibitors: effect on appropriateness of prescribing. Med Care Res Rev. 2005;62:544–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Hansen RA, Shaheen NJ, Schommer JC. Factors influencing the shift of patients from one proton pump inhibitor to another: the effect of direct-to-consumer advertising. Clin Ther. 2005;27:1478–1487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Aikin K, Swasy JL, Braman AC. Patient and physician attitudes and behaviors associated with DTC promotion of prescription drugs: summary of FDA survery research results. In: Food and Drug Administration; 2004. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/media/112016/download. Accessed 8/1/2019.

  17. Abel GA, Penson RT, Joffe S, et al. Direct-to-consumer advertising in oncology. Oncologist. 2006;11:217–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Murray E, Lo B, Pollack L, et al. Direct-to-consumer advertising: public perceptions of its effects on health behaviors, health care, and the doctor-patient relationship. J Am Board Fam Pract. 2004;17:6–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kravitz RL, Epstein RM, Feldman MD, et al. Influence of patients’ requests for direct-to-consumer advertised antidepressants: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005;293:1995–2002.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Khanfar NM, Clauson KA, Polen HH, et al. Self-reported influence of television-based direct-to-consumer advertising on patient seasonal allergy and asthma medication use: an internet survey. Curr Ther Res Clin Exp. 2008;69:130–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Khanfar NM, Polen HH, Clauson KA. Influence on consumer behavior: the impact of direct-to-consumer advertising on medication requests for gastroesophageal reflux disease and social anxiety disorder. J Health Commun. 2009;14:451–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

We would like to acknowledge Gregory Abel, Harold Burstein, Nathanael Hevelone, and Jane Weeks for assistance with developing the patient questionnaire for our study. We would also like to acknowledge the UTSW IBD Clinical and Translational Core.

Funding

The authors have no financial support to report.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX, 75390, USA

    Phillip Gu, Punya Chittajallu, Cathy McNeill, Amit G. Singal, John H. Kwon & Tasneem F. Ahmed

  2. Division of Gastroenterology, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Edward Yang

Authors
  1. Phillip Gu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Edward Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Punya Chittajallu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cathy McNeill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Amit G. Singal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. John H. Kwon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Tasneem F. Ahmed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Phillip Gu.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Dr. Singal has served as a consultant for Genentech, BMS, and Roche Diagnostics. Dr. Kwon has served on the speakers bureau for Takeda. Dr. Ahmed has served on the speakers bureau for Abbive.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 57 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gu, P., Yang, E., Chittajallu, P. et al. Patient Perception and Clinical Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Dig Dis Sci 66, 63–69 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-020-06180-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-020-06180-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation