Analysis of drug promotional literatures in a tertiary care hospital: a cross sectional study

Authors

  • Noopur Vyas Department of Pharmacology, MGM Medical College, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • Savita Shahani Department of Pharmacology, MGM Medical College, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20191608

Keywords:

Drug promotion literatures, Ethical drug promotions, Rational drug prescribing, WHO guidelines

Abstract

Background: Large numbers of new drugs are introduced into the market every day and pharmaceutical companies are in the business of development and selling of new drug. There are different modes of drug promotion which include visual aids, leave behind leaflets and audio visuals. Drug Promotional Literatures (DPL’s) claim to provide vital and accurate information regarding the drug. To ensure rational use of drugs a set of standards laid by the WHO for ethical drug promotion.

Methods: A cross sectional observational study was performed in Department of Pharmacology at a tertiary care teaching hospital of Navi Mumbai. A total of 100 drug promotional literatures were randomly collected from different outpatient departments and were evaluated by using WHO guidelines.

Results: None of drug promotional literature fulfilled all WHO criteria. Generic name, Brand name, active ingredients were mentioned in all. The problem causing ingredient was not mentioned in any of the cases. Safety information was not complete, adverse drug reactions were mentioned in only 45% of the cases, contraindications and drug interactions were mentioned in 39% of the cases. Manufacturer details including name and address of manufacturer was mentioned in 67% of the DPL’s. References were mentioned in 80% of the literature out of which 84% were from journal articles.

Conclusions: None of the DPL’s satisfied all the WHO criteria. Incomplete information may lead to irrational prescription of drugs. Therefore, more strict regulations need to be implemented and physicians must critically evaluate DPL’s before considering the same for prescribing.

References

Sonwane PG, Karve AV. IJBCP Drug promotional literature: Does pharmaceutical industry follow WHO guidelines ? Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol. 2017;6(7):1790-3.

Jadav SS, Dumatar CB, Dikshit RK. Drug promotional literatures (DPLs) evaluation as per World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. J Appl Pharmaceu Scien. 2014 Jun 1;4(6):84.

Randhawa G, Singh N, Rai J, Kaur G, Kashyap R. A Critical Analysis of Claims and Their Authenticity in Indian Drug Promotional Advertisements. Advances in Medicine. 2015;2015:1-7.

Ganashree P, Bhuvana K, Sarala N. Critical review of drug promotional literature using the World Health Organization guidelines. J Res Pharm Pract [Internet]. 2016;5(3):162-5. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27512705. (Cited 2019 Feb 18).

Shubha R, Taj S, Bindumathi PL. A cross sectional study of drug promotional literatures in a tertiary care hospital. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol. 2017;6(1):137-40.

Stryer D, Bero LA. Characteristics of materials distributed by drug companies. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 1996;11(10):575-83. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8945688

Ethical criteria for medicinal drug promotion [Internet]. (Cited 2019 Feb 19). Available at: http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/documents/whozip08e/whozip08e.pdf

Jadav SS, Dumatar CB, Dikshit RK. Drug promotional literatures (DPLs) evaluation as per World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. J App Pharmace Scien. 2014 Jun 1;4(6):84.

Sharmin R, Sharmin ZR, Mosaddek ASM, Islam MZ, Rahman MF, Parvin R, et al. Medicine promotional literature as a source of updated information in Bangladesh: Do those advertising literature promote continued medical education or deceptive advertising? Acta Medi Int. 2017;4(2):20. Available at: http://www.actamedicainternational.com/text.asp?2017/4/2/20/220215

Jain V, Kaore S, Amane H, Jain M, Katakwar M, Thawani V. Evaluation of rationality of printed promotional medicine literature. Int J Heal Alli Scienc. 2016;5(1):45. Available at: http://www.ijhas.in/text.asp?2016/5/1/45/173871

Gautam SR, Chugh PK, Sah RK, Tripathi CD. Critical appraisal of drug promotional literature using World Health Organisation guidelines. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol. 2017;6(8):2014.

Natarajan S. The relevance of indexed journals. Ind J Ophthalmol. 2016;64(5):331.

Khakhkhar T, Mehta M, Shah R, Sharma D. Evaluation of drug promotional literatures using WHO guidelines. Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results. 2013 Jan 1;4(1):33.

Parli K, Reema R, Devang R, Supriya M. Evaluation of promotional drug literature provided by medical representative at a tertiary care hospital. Interactions. 2017 Apr 1;34(160):17-5.

Hoovinahole S, Kamath A. A study of adherence of drug promotional literatures from various clinical specialties to the World Health Organization ethical criteria for drug promotion. J Pharm Negat Results [Internet]. 2016;7(1):37. (Cited 2019 Apr 1).

Downloads

Published

2019-04-23

How to Cite

Vyas, N., & Shahani, S. (2019). Analysis of drug promotional literatures in a tertiary care hospital: a cross sectional study. International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology, 8(5), 1102–1105. https://doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20191608

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles