Quality of the pharmaceutical advertisement claims in five medical journals in Korea

Ahn, Song Vogue; Choi, Won; Kim, Chul Joon; Choe, Seong Choon; Lee, Kang Hee; Ha, Kyoungsoo; Kim, Hyeon Chang

Journal of Korean Society Quality Assurance Health Care 2006;12(1): 52.
Published online May 30, 2006.

우리나라 일부 의학 학술지에 게재된 의약품 광고의 과학적 근거에 대한 평가

안성복¹, 최원², 김철준², 최성준³, 이강희⁴, 하경수¹, 김현창¹

¹연세대학교 의과대학 예방의학교실
²한국 엠에스디 의학부
³사노피 신데라보 코리아 의학부
⁴보건복지부 국제협력팀

Quality of the pharmaceutical advertisement claims in five medical journals in Korea

Song Vogue Ahn¹, Won Choi², Chul Joon Kim², Seong Choon Choe³, Kang Hee Lee⁴, Kyoungsoo Ha¹, Hyeon Chang Kim¹

¹Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine
²Medical Department, MSD Korea
³Medical Department, Sanofi-Synthelabo Korea
⁴International Cooperation Team, Ministry of Health and Welfare

Abstract

Background
The promotion and advertisement of pharmaceuticals should be based on evidence from clinical trials. We conducted this study to assess whether the pharmaceutical advertisement claims in Korean medical journals had relevant references, and whether the claims were supported by the references.
Methods
We reviewed pharmaceutical advertisements in five Korean medical journals issued during the first half of 1999 and during the first half of 2004. Three investigators independently reviewed the advertisements to see whether the studies quoted to endorse the advertising messages supported the corresponding claims. Using multiple logistic regression analyses, we investigated which factors were associated with the quality of the advertisement claims.
Results
From the 550 advertisements in the five journals, we identified 157 different advertisements and 475 different promotional claims. Only 149 claims had at least one reference, and 105 claims had references of published article. We could find supporting evidences in the 90 claims. The factors which were associated with the quality of advertisement claims were category of drugs, category of claims, and the manufacturer characteristics. Claims for cardiovascular and endocrine drugs, and claims on efficacy, and claims of multinational company were more evidence-based.
Conclusion
Majority of the pharmaceutical advertisement claims in Korea did not have appropriate references. Drug category, claim category, and the manufacturer characteristics were associated with the quality of advertisement claims, and the manufacturer characteristics was the most important determinants.

Key words Quality;Evidence;Pharmaceutical;