Quality of pharmaceutical advertising and gender bias in medical journals (1998-2008): a review of the scientific literature

Cambronero-Saiz, Belén; Ruiz-Cantero, María Teresa; Papí-Gálvez, Natalia

doi:10.1016/j.gaceta.2011.11.002

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Advertising in marketing campaigns can help to strengthen erroneously the perception that certain diseases are more frequent in one sex than another through greater representation of one of the two sexes. In addition, concern has been consistently expressed that pharmaceutical marketing contributes to the medicalisation of women's life processes ( 7 ).…”

Section: Gender Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender bias in clinical research, pharmaceutical marketing, and the prescription of drugs

Chilet-Rosell

2014

Global Health Action

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This thesis is part of the studies of gender bias in health which together with the paradigm of evidence-based medicine shares the empirical assumption that there are inaccuracies in medical practice, in addition to a lack of rigour and transparency. It worked with the distinction between the concepts of sex and gender and between the concepts of sex-related differences and gender inequalities, in terms of applying a gender perspective in the study design and the subsequent analysis. This PhD review presents the research process conducted in Spain, which can provide an example for future research. Study I described a review of 58 clinical trials (CTs) of etoricoxib to assess its compliance with the Recommendations of Evaluation of Gender Differences in the Clinical Evaluation of Drugs. In Study II, key informants from professions related to different areas in drug development and pharmacovigilance held a working meeting to reach a consensus document on recommendations for the study and evaluation of gender differences in CTs in Spain. In Study III, the websites of the eight best-selling hormone replacement therapy drugs in Spain on Google first page of results were analysed. In Study IV, a logistic regression analysis was performed to compare analgesic prescription by sex in regions with a higher or lower Gender Development Index (GDI) than the Spanish average. Gender biases identified in this thesis limited the legitimacy of medicine, which is not based on the best possible evidence. The results also demonstrate the existence of inequalities between men and women that are not due merely to biological differences, but are gender inequalities stemming from the social differences that exist between both sexes.

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Section: Gender Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender bias in clinical research, pharmaceutical marketing, and the prescription of drugs

Chilet-Rosell

2014

Global Health Action

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“…Due to the increasing global and fragmented context in which they work, physicians are partially dependent on the flow of information conveyed through advertising, which acts as a socialising agent and transmits messages that contribute to the social construction of disease (47). Marketing strategies target the medical community and do not always offer neutral information in order to increase sales (48–50).…”

Section: Aim and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender policies and advertising and marketing practices that affect women's health

Cambronero-Saiz

2013

Global Health Action

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BackgroundThe three papers of this doctoral thesis are based on the social construction of reality through the analysis of communication relating to health issues. We have analysed the contents of parliamentary, institutional, and mass media to uncover whether their communications create, transmit, and perpetuate gender biases and/or stereotypes, which may have an impact on people's health, with a particular focus on women.ObjectiveTo analyse decision making and the creation of gender awareness policies and actions affecting women's health: (1) political debates about abortion, (2) gender awareness communication campaigns and educational actions, and (3) pharmaceutical advertising strategies. DesignQuantitative and qualitative methods were employed, and the research included observational studies and systematic reviews. To apply a gender perspective, we used the level of gender observation proposed by S. Harding, which states that: (1) gender is the basis of social norms and (2) gender is one of the organisers of the social structure.ResultsSixty percentage of the bills concerning abortion introduced in the Spanish Parliament were initiated and led by pro-choice women's groups. Seventy-nine percent of institutional initiatives aimed at promoting equality awareness and were in the form of educational actions, while unconventional advertising accounted for 6 percent. Both initiatives focused on occupational equality, and very few actions addressed issues such as shared responsibility or public policy. With regard to pharmaceutical advertising, similar traditional male–female gender roles were used between 1975 and 2005. ConclusionsGender sensitivity continues to be essential in changing the established gender system in Spanish institutions, which has a direct and indirect impact on health. Greater participation of women in public policy and decision-making are critical for womens’ health, such as the issue of abortion. The predominance of women as the target group of institutional gender awareness campaigns proves that the gender perspective still lacks the promotion of shared responsibilities between men and women. There is a need for institutions that act as ‘policy watchdogs’ to control the gender biases in mass media and pharmaceutical marketing as well as to ensure the proper implementation and maintenance of Spanish equality laws.

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“…Advertisements make claims with insufficient or no substantiation; rely predominantly on research sponsored by the manufacturer; fail to quantify serious risks and overemphasise benefits over risks . Increased awareness of these issues has pushed pharmaceutical companies and their advertisers to raise the standards, with an increase in the number of references accompanying many advertisements . However, the increased number of references has not necessarily raised the quality of the claims in advertisements as many claims remain ambiguous, emotive, immeasurable and relate to non‐clinical outcomes .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[2] Increased awareness of these issues has pushed pharmaceutical companies and their advertisers to raise the standards, with an increase in the number of references accompanying many advertisements. [3] However, the increased number of references has not necessarily raised the quality of the claims in advertisements as many claims remain ambiguous, emotive, immeasurable and relate to non-clinical outcomes. [4] In addition, some have found that the accompanying references do not support the claims made in some advertisements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of claims and references found in Australian pharmacy journal advertisements

Mandoh

Curtain

2016

International Journal of Pharmacy Practice

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Pharmaceutical advertisements continue to present vague and emotive claims with little independent supporting evidence. Pharmacists need to be aware of these limitations when providing patient care. Increased awareness of this issue among pharmaceutical companies, Australian pharmaceutical journal publishers, regulators and pharmacists will assist in promoting optimised healthcare outcomes for the Australian public.

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Quality of pharmaceutical advertising and gender bias in medical journals (1998-2008): a review of the scientific literature

Cited by 9 publications

References 42 publications

Gender bias in clinical research, pharmaceutical marketing, and the prescription of drugs

Gender bias in clinical research, pharmaceutical marketing, and the prescription of drugs

Gender policies and advertising and marketing practices that affect women's health

Quality of claims and references found in Australian pharmacy journal advertisements

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