Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30931180›Full record

ArticleCureus2019

Assessment of Consistency between Claims and References Referred to in Pharmaceutical Advertising Brochures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Tareq M Al-Tuhaifi, Ayman M Awad, Ahmed Abu-Zaid, Abdulaziz M Eshaq, Najwa Mohammad, Sandrella I Zebian, Abdulkarim G Sulaihim, Yara Alburaidi, Ahmed Fothan, Omer Kaweilh and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Tareq M Al-TuhaifiPathology, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.
Ayman M AwadOphthalmology, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.
Ahmed Abu-ZaidOncology, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.
Abdulaziz M EshaqInternal Medicine, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, USA.
Najwa MohammadInternal Medicine, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.
Sandrella I ZebianFamily Medicine, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.
Abdulkarim G SulaihimSurgery, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh, SAU.
Yara AlburaidiDentistry, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh, SAU.
Ahmed FothanInternal Medicine, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.
Omer KaweilhMiscellaneous, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.
Dileep K RohraPharmacology, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.
Abdulhadi A AlamodiSurgery, Alfaisal University College of Medicine, Riyadh, SAU.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Drug advertisement brochures (DABs) contain claims that are often supplemented by references in medical literature. Several studies have evaluated the DABs as they are commonly distributed by drug companies to practicing physicians. The objective of this study is to assess the consistency between the claims and references referred to in the DABs in Saudi Arabia. DABs were collected from medical practitioners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Authors developed a protocol to be followed for quality assessment of the DABs. The vast majority of cited scientific papers were indexed in PubMed. Consequently, each reference was categorized as: justifiable, false, exaggerated or ambiguous. A total of 89 DABs were collected; 48 (53.9%) brochures were excluded from further analysis and the remaining 41 brochures (46.1%) contained 240 references with an approximate average of 5.9 references per DAB. A total of 201 cited papers were traced (83.8%). The majority of references (93.0%) supported the claims for which they were cited. However, 1.5%, 4.0% and 1.5% of claims were deemed inaccurate/false, exaggerated, and ambiguous, respectively. This study supports that the majority of the claims made in the DABs of pharmaceutical companies in Saudi Arabia were unreferenced. However, most of the evidence presented to substantiate claims made was considered true.

Indexed as

drug advertisement brochurespharmaceuticalquality of evidencereferences

Identifiers

PMID30931180
PMCPMC6426555

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.