Evidence map›Paper›PMID 12879831›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2003

Understanding why GPs see pharmaceutical representatives: a qualitative interview study.

Helen Prosser, Tom Walley

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In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives in the United States and China: The Need for Professional Public Space.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2022
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  8. Review
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  10. Which pharmaceutical sales representatives' features do slovenian family physicians value?Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH · 2013
    Article
  11. Article
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  14. Efforts to ban direct-to-consumer advertising in New Zealand: a call to action.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003
    Article
  15. How to change clinical behaviour: no answers yet.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003
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  16. Confidentiality: consent is not sufficient.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003
    Article
  17. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Helen ProsserDepartment of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, The Infirmary, Liverpool.
Tom Walley

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDoctors are aware of the commercial bias in pharmaceutical representative information; nevertheless, such information is known to change doctors' prescribing, and augment irrational prescribing and prescribing costs.

aimTo explore GPs, reasons for receiving visits from pharmaceutical representatives. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative study with semi-structured interviews.

settingOne hundred and seven general practitioners (GPs) in practices from two health authorities in the North West of England.

resultsThe main outcome measures of the study were: reasons for receiving/not receiving representative visits; advantages/disadvantages in receiving visits; and quality of representative-supplied information. Most GPs routinely see pharmaceutical representatives, because they bring new drug information speedily; they are convenient and accessible; and can be consulted with a saving of time and effort. Many GPs asserted they had the skills to critically appraise the evidence. Furthermore, the credibility and social characteristics of the representative were instrumental in shaping GPs' perceptions of representatives as legitimate information providers. GPs also received visits from representatives for reasons other than information acquisition. These reasons are congruent with personal selling techniques used in marketing communications.

conclusionsThe study draws attention to the social and cultural contexts of GP-representative encounters and the way in which the acquisition of pharmacological information within the mercantile context of representative visits is legitimated. This highlights the need for doctors to critically appraise information supplied by representatives in relation to other information sources.

Indexed as

Drug IndustryEnglandHumansInformation DisseminationInterdisciplinary CommunicationMotivationPhysicians, FamilyProfessional Competence

Identifiers

PMID12879831
PMCPMC1314573

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.