Observational studyJournal of general internal medicine2015
The effect of competing direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns on the use of drugs for benign prostatic hyperplasia: time series analysis.
Observational study in Journal of general internal medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing the Methods, Tools, and Statistical Approaches in Google Trends Research: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Pooled it
- Patient Understanding of Oncology Clinical Trial Endpoints in Direct-to-Consumer Television Advertising.The oncologist · 2023Trial
- Implications of Public Interest in Colonoscopy: Analysis of Google Trends Data From 12 European Countries.Cureus · 2023Article
- Social media and internet search data to inform drug utilization: A systematic scoping review.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
- Google Search Trends to assess public interest in and concern about Vuity for treating presbyopia.PloS one · 2023Article
- Impact of direct-to-consumer drug advertising during the Super Bowl on drug utilization.Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP · 2020Article
- Trends in Media Reports, Oral Bisphosphonate Prescriptions, and Hip Fractures 1996-2012: An Ecological Analysis.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2015Article
- Effect of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Asthma Medication Sales and Healthcare Use.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2015Article
- Direct to consumer advertising: the case for greater consumer control.Journal of general internal medicine · 2015Article
- A failure to communicate.Journal of general internal medicine · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDirect-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) remains a controversial issue, with concerns that it leads to unnecessary and inappropriate prescribing. Whether DTCA shifts prescribing from first-line (guideline-recommended) therapy to second-line drugs has not been studied.
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to determine the impact of sequential DTCA campaigns for two drugs used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH): one newer agent, dutasteride (Avodart(®)), and one older first-line agent, tamsulosin (Flomax(®)).
designInterrupted time series analysis was used to assess the impact of each DTCA campaign using data on consumer "response" from Google Trends and dispensed prescriptions from IMS Health.
participantsWe analyzed data for the United States from January 2003 to December 2007.
interventionDTCA for dutasteride and tamsulosin commenced on July, 2005 and April, 2006, respectively. MAIN MEASURES: Monthly Internet search volume (scaled from 0 to 100) for the advertised trade name of each drug and monthly U.S. prescription rates per 1,000 population were analyzed. KEY
resultsThe dutasteride campaign was associated with an increase in Internet searches for both "Avodart" (level change +31.3 %, 95 % CI: 27.2-35.4) and "Flomax" (level change +8.3 %, 95 % CI: 0.9-15.7), whereas the tamsulosin campaign was associated with increased "Flomax" searches (level change +25.3 %, 95 % CI: 18.7-31.8). The dutasteride campaign was associated with an increase in the prescription of dutasteride (trend = 0.45/month, 95 % CI: 0.33-0.56), but a larger impact was observed with tamsulosin prescriptions (trend = 0.76/month, 95 % CI: 0.02-1.50). Similarly, the tamsulosin campaign was associated with an immediate fourfold increase in the prescribing of tamsulosin (level change +5.76 units, 95 % CI: 1.79-9.72) compared to dutasteride (level change +1.47 units, 95 % CI: 0.79-2.14).
conclusionsDTCA was associated with the utilization of drugs to treat symptomatic BPH. However, both campaigns were associated with greater increases in the use of the guideline-recommended first-line agent. DTCA campaigns may increase the overall levels of guideline-recommended treatments to a greater extent than the specific advertised agents.
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Registered trials
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.