Online validity and accuracy of references within drug promotion materials in orthopaedic out-patient department

Abstract

Background -In the era of evidence based medicine, correct and relevant information should accompany any broadcast of pharmaceutical related knowledge. A substandard piece of information has potential for negative impact on care-giver and patient at large. The claims about any pharmaceutical agent with respect to its action, complications or superiority over other ones should be based on strong level of evidence for better knowledge that is aimed at positive impact on judicious decision making and good outcome of therapy. It is thus important that periodic assessment of claims made by promotional materials should be done to ensure their validity and not rely on marketing noise. A detailed study of drug promotion materials collected in orthopaedic out-patient department within a period of four months (Oct 2015 to Jan 2016) was done with special attention to presence, quality and validity of information or claims made within it. 238 random materials were collected in a defined period, out of which 120 excluded in first and 72 in second evaluation. The remaining 46 materials with 65 references in total were part of study. The references were searched over world wide web for its validity, ease of availability and correctness. Majority (26, 56.52%) of the materials were without proper references. Most of the references were about mechanism of action followed by superiority to other drugs. There was deficiency in the presented references including lack of author name, wrong volume of journal or problem with easy identification over net in most references (32, 49.23%). Pain medication were followed by antibiotics and calcium related agents in number of references present. The wrong referencing and difficult to trace the source were leading problems noted on online assessment. The quality of promotional material should quote well substantiated evidence about mechanism of action, superiority and rationale of its use. The evidence thus garnered should be of highest level or from standard reference text book. The preferable use of digital object identifier (doi) is advisable for better search of the articles to check on internet. For ease of quick navigation through referencing articles use of technology like quick response (QR) codes may be considered in the future.Keywords: promotional literature, drug marketing, orthopaedics, education, evidence, references Introduction Evidence based medicine has been a buzzword in recent times and becoming a significant issue in patient management by providing effective guidance and education to the care-giver. The doctors have traditionally been kept informed and updated about latest developments in pharmaceutical world with special regard to newer drugs and their role in various ailments by medical representatives. Direct to physician (DTP) marketing has been the traditional way of drug promotion across the globe. The print materials have been an important vehicle of correspondence in this regard. Changing times have witnessed adoption of recent technologies like web based p...

Use of WhatsApp to monitor proper brace application and compliance in a case of clubfoot: a feasibility report

“…Any information regarding the medical fact or claim can be confirmed through the internet for its validity or the internet can be harnessed for continuous professional development through online learning materials and courses. 1,2 The emergence of newer technological breakthroughs like artificial intelligence (AI) are bound to transform healthcare field in coming future and will not only affect personalized care but also affect how well a manuscript is kept plagiarism free among many other things. 3 The WhatsApp is a preferred platform to share the views and other materials through internet and is simple, effective and gaining a huge user base by each passing year.…”