Direct to consumer (DTC) advertisements provide meaningful information to patients and promote communication between patients and physicians. They also exaggerate the benefits while making procedures appear simple and suggest that trained medical professionals are not needed to perform procedures. These findings appear in the new study published in journal Dermatologic Surgery.
‘Direct to consumer (DTC) advertisements urge patients to seek information about products from physicians.’
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Direct to consumer (DTC) advertising is a common form of healthcare communication and pharmaceutical marketing in the United States.Throughout the last few decades, pharmaceutical expenditures have shifted from targeting physicians to targeting select consumers. In 2016, drug companies spent $9.6 billion on DTC advertisements and the typical American was exposed to an average of nine drug advertisements daily.
Only a few studies have been conducted to examine the impact of DTC advertisements on cosmetic procedures, however little research exists about cosmetic procedures ads and the inclusion of health risk information with regards to how they impact consumer opinions.
A new study recruited 203 participants from dermatology clinics at an urban academic medical center to view two DTC advertisements. Later, questionnaires were administered to assess opinions towards cosmetic procedures both before and after the viewing.
After watching the advertisements, researchers found 18.8 percent and 24.6 percent increase in participants reporting a desire to view commercials as an information source and seeking out additional medical knowledge, respectively.
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Sixty percent of participants felt the advertisements did not provide enough information about the possible risks of the product while 39.4 percent believed a physician was not required to perform cosmetic procedures.
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Source-Medindia