Informational and symbolic content of over-the-counter drug advertising on television

Managing sleep problems using non-prescription medications and the role of community pharmacists: older adults' perspectives

OBJECTIVES

To examine older adults' perspectives regarding managing sleep problems through selection and use of non-prescription sleep aids, and the role of pharmacists.

METHODS

Telephone interviews were conducted from May to June 2015 with 116 individuals aged ≥60 years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants reported in a previous survey to have used at least one non-prescription sleep aid in the past 30 days and were willing to participate in a follow-up interview. Interview guides were designed to elicit perspectives of sleep problems, selection and use of non-prescription sleep aids, and consultation with healthcare professionals. Interview transcripts underwent content analysis.

KEY FINDINGS

Four themes emerged as follows: experiences with sleep problems, selection of non-prescription sleep aids, non-prescription sleep aid use and interactions with healthcare professionals. Over half of participants reported using a non-prescription sleep aid for >1 year, were satisfied with its use and perceived it improved sleep quality. Participants commonly used an antihistamine-only sleep aid; 36% of participants self-recommended their sleep aid; and 16% of participants consulted healthcare professionals. Few participants read medication dosage labels (22%), side effects or warnings (19%), and many reported they disregarded directions. Participants did not typically consult pharmacists about sleep problems (65%) but perceived that they could assist with medication concerns.

CONCLUSIONS

Although most participants had favourable perceptions of non-prescription sleep aids, older adults may be inappropriately using non-prescription sleep aids to self-manage sleep problems by frequently disregarding medication labels and directions for safe use. Also, few older adults are discussing their sleep aid selection and use with pharmacists.

"Just Advil": Harm reduction and identity construction in the consumption of over-the-counter medication for chronic pain

Direct-to-consumer marketing has sparked ongoing debate concerning whether ads empower consumers to be agents of their own care or shift greater control to the pharmaceutical industry. Ads for over-the-counter (OTC) medications in particular portend to offer simple, harmless solutions for meeting the demands of social life. Rather than join the longstanding debate between consumer agency and social control in pharmaceutical advertising, I approach self-medication with over-the-counter (OTC) analgesics using Harm Reduction as a framework. From this perspective, consumption of OTC analgesics by chronic pain sufferers is a means of seeking some level of relief while also avoiding the stigma associated with prescription pain medication. Qualitative methods are used to analyze data from two sources: (1) semi-structured qualitative interviews with 95 participants in a trial examining the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) from 2006 to 2011 in Tucson, AZ and Portland, OR; and (2) print, online, and television advertisements for three major brands of OTC pain medication. Participants described their use of OTC medications as minimal, responsible, and justified by the severity of their pain. OTC medication advertising, while ostensibly ambiguous and targeting all forms of pain, effectively lends support to the consumption of these medications as part of the self-projects of chronic pain sufferers, allowing them to reconcile conflicting demands for pain relief while being stoic and maintaining a positive moral identity. Describing OTC medication as "just over-the-counter" or "not real pain medication," sufferers engage in ideological harm reduction, distinguishing themselves from "those people who like taking pain medication" while still seeking relief. Justifying one's use of OTC medication as minimal and "normal," regardless of intake, avoids association with the addictive potential of prescription pain medications and aligns the identity of the chronic pain sufferer with a culturally sanctioned identity as stoic bearer of pain.

Content analysis of false and misleading claims in television advertising for prescription and nonprescription drugs

BACKGROUND

False and misleading advertising for drugs can harm consumers and the healthcare system, and previous research has demonstrated that physician-targeted drug advertisements may be misleading. However, there is a dearth of research comparing consumer-targeted drug advertising to evidence to evaluate whether misleading or false information is being presented in these ads.

OBJECTIVE

To compare claims in consumer-targeted television drug advertising to evidence, in order to evaluate the frequency of false or misleading television drug advertising targeted to consumers.

DESIGN

A content analysis of a cross-section of television advertisements for prescription and nonprescription drugs aired from 2008 through 2010. We analyzed commercial segments containing prescription and nonprescription drug advertisements randomly selected from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, a census of national news broadcasts.

MAIN MEASURES

For each advertisement, the most-emphasized claim in each ad was identified based on claim iteration, mode of communication, duration and placement. This claim was then compared to evidence by trained coders, and categorized as being objectively true, potentially misleading, or false. Potentially misleading claims omitted important information, exaggerated information, made lifestyle associations, or expressed opinions. False claims were factually false or unsubstantiated.

KEY RESULTS

Of the most emphasized claims in prescription (n = 84) and nonprescription (n = 84) drug advertisements, 33 % were objectively true, 57 % were potentially misleading and 10 % were false. In prescription drug ads, there were more objectively true claims (43 %) and fewer false claims (2 %) than in nonprescription drug ads (23 % objectively true, 7 % false). There were similar numbers of potentially misleading claims in prescription (55 %) and nonprescription (61 %) drug ads.

CONCLUSIONS

Potentially misleading claims are prevalent throughout consumer-targeted prescription and nonprescription drug advertising on television. These results are in conflict with proponents who argue the social value of drug advertising is found in informing consumers about drugs.

Which factors drive product sales in OTC markets?

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine sales drivers for different OTC product categories.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses data from both consumer and retail panels, which are gathered for various product categories. These long‐term data are analyzed per product category with two specific regression models, mainly time‐series analysis with VAR models and Shapley value regression.

Findings

It is found that purchase intention drives sales a lot in general. Besides, it is very important to distinguish seasonal vs non‐seasonal markets. The trend coefficient, which implies the stage of maturity of the market, indicates more or less saturated markets for the examples. The proposed models can be easily applied to different OTC categories without a lot of customization.

Research limitations/implications

The study does not take into account different outlets (e.g. online, supermarkets) and does not estimate interaction effects between the single drivers.

Practical implications

The paper provides the market researcher with a guideline on how to proceed to model OTC product categories, e.g. which data are to be used, which models are to be estimated, which conclusions can be drawn.

Originality/value

The study develops an analysis approach which is readily applicable to different OTC product categories, which exhibit very distinct market characteristics. The advantage of this approach is that it applies a standardized tool kit of methods to analyze highly varying markets.

Now you see it. Now you don't: fair balance and adequate provision in advertisements for drugs before and after the switch from prescription to over-the-counter

The objective of this study was to measure differences in fair balance (benefit and risk statements) and adequate provision (toll-free numbers, Internet URLs, print ad references, and medical professional references) in advertising content for drugs that have switched from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC). The Vanderbilt TV News Archive was used to select products to study, to measure the frequency and placement of ads for those products, and to view advertising content for those products. Unique advertisements (n = 108) for loratadine (Claritin), citirizine (Zyrtec), and omeprazole (Prilosec) were analyzed for the presence of adequate provision statements and for the frequency of benefit, risk, and other statements. OTC ads were shorter than prescription ads by 10.6 seconds but contained the same total number of statements. Most prescription ads (n (RX) = 31) contained toll-free numbers (97%), Internet URLs (94%), medical professional references (100%) and print ad references (68%). Few OTC ads (n (OTC) = 77) contained adequate provision statements: 4% contained toll-free numbers and 10% contained Internet URLs. Prescription ads had similar numbers of benefits (1.5) and risks (1.8) per 30 seconds of ad time, and OTC ads had more benefits (6.6) than risks (1.2) per 30 seconds of ad time. Prescription drug ads contained risk statements that listed specific side effects and explicit harms from taking the product, but OTC ads contained nonspecific risk information and statements that implied risk rather than directly identifying risk. Differences in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulation of advertising affected the balance of risk and benefit information that appeared and the specificity of risk information available.

A cross-media analysis of educational information content of advertisements for over-the-counter medicines in a Nigerian urban setting

Objective

To analyse the educational information content of adverts for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines on radio, television and billboards in a Nigerian urban setting.

Method

A cross-sectional coding of educational information content of adverts for OTC medicines broadcast on radio and television and shown on billboards in a Nigerian urban setting within a 3-month study period. Two coders independently assessed 1492 adverts comprising 49 brands for information on targeted medical conditions and OTC medicines advertised as treatment.

Results

Inter-rater reliability among the two coders, determined with Cohen’s Kappa, was 0.81 (95% confidence interval, 0.77–0.90). Analgesics, multi-vitamins/hematinics and anti-malarial drugs were the most frequently advertised OTC drug classes on all media. Symptoms and underlying cause/risk factors of targeted medical conditions were contained in a minority of adverts. The majority (81.5–100%) of the adverts projected the name of the medical condition for which the OTC medicines were advertised, whereas the symptoms and underlying cause/risk factors of these medical conditions were contained in only a minority of adverts. Name and identification features were the most frequently projected educational information (100%) pertaining to OTC medicines in advertised treatments. Information on the time to onset of action was contained in 40–80% of adverts, but this information was provided with the use of qualitative words such as fast and rapid. Information on dose, frequency, duration, side effects and precautions were provided in a minority of adverts in all media. Adverts for OTC medicines on television had the highest combined educational information scores of 5.0, followed by billboards (4.1) and radio (3.0). The combined educational information scores of adverts for OTC medicines on the three media fell short of the maximum obtainable score of 11. Adverts for anti-malarial drugs (100%) and OTC analgesics projected inaccurate information with regards to the efficacy of the advertised medicines.

Conclusion

The majority of adverts for OTC medicines on radio, television and billboards in a Nigerian urban setting contained insufficient educational information to guide informed drug purchase and rational use of medicines during self-medication. Promotional efforts appeared focused on high consumer awareness of the targeted medical conditions and the name/identification of the OTC medicines advertised as treatments. This may further worsen the well-documented irrational use of medicines in Nigeria.

A decade of research on health content in the media: the focus on health challenges and sociocultural context and attendant informational and ideological problems

There is a burgeoning interest in the health and illness content of popular media in the domains of advertising, journalism, and entertainment. This article reviews the past 10 years of this research, describing the relationship between the health topics addressed in the research, the shifting focus of concerns about the media, and, ultimately, the variation in problems for health promotion. I suggest that research attending to topics related to bodily health challenges focused on whether popular media accurately or appropriately represented health challenges. The implication was that there is some consensus about more right or wrong, complete or incomplete ways of representing an issue; the problem was that the media are generally wrong. Alternatively, research addressing topics related to sociocultural context issues focused on how certain interests are privileged in the media. The implication was that competing groups are making claims on the system, but the problem was that popular media marginalizes certain interests. In short, popular media is not likely to facilitate understandings helpful to individuals coping with health challenges and is likely to perpetuate social and political power differentials with regard to health-related issues. I conclude by offering some possibilities for future health media content research.

Are direct to consumer advertisments of prescription drugs educational?: comparing 1992 to 2002

We investigate the educational value of direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertisements from 58 popular magazines published in 1992 and 2002. We find that the number of DTC prescription drug ads increased nine-fold from 1992 to 2002, while the advertisements for other health care products increased only slightly. We examine changes in 1992-2002 DTC prescription drug ads both quantitatively and qualitatively. We find that the educational value as it relates to serious medical conditions decreases over time based on the media logic that the primary purpose of advertisements is to promote consumption, rather than education. We enumerate and describe the media logic tactics employed, and find a statistically significant increase in the number of such tactics per ad in 2002.

Use of over-the-counter medications during pregnancy

The use of over-the-counter medications by pregnant women is common. Over-the-counter medications are widely assumed to be harmless because they may be purchased without prescription. Some consumers do not consider them to be drugs. Women may not realize that over-the-counter medications have the potential to harm them or their fetuses. This article reviews selected over-the-counter medications commonly used by pregnant women, including pharmacology, risks, Food and Drug Administration risk classifications, and strategies for counseling clients.

Review article: over-the-counter drugs and the gastrointestinal tract

An increasing number of drugs are becoming available over-the-counter, empowering patients to treat them- selves. Although drugs presently available over-the-counter are generally safe, there are issues of safety and possible delays in diagnosis of serious conditions. Therefore it is vital that patients are made aware of the indications and limitations of over-the-counter drugs through improved communication and education. Pharmacists and drug companies will have an increasingly important role in giving information and advice to patients. This review looks at the present and future of over-the-counter medication, highlighting the safety aspects.

Health, medicine, and food messages in television commercials during 1992 and 1998

The potential effects of television advertisements on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior have generated considerable concern. Part of this concern arises from the overall exposure of children to this medium. By the time they graduate from high school, the time devoted to watching television will exceed the hours spent in school. Hence, health professionals should recognize the disproportionate role of television as an informational and attitudinal source for children. The potential impact of television advertisements, particularly those promoting health-related products such as medications and foods, coupled with the changing nature of television points to this medium as an important candidate for examination. The purpose of this study was to content analyze and compare advertisements broadcast in 1992 and 1998 to create a description of the health information conveyed in top-rated, prime time network television advertisements and to determine the congruence of this information with current health recommendations.