السنة | 2021-02-14 |
---|---|
التخصص | ماجستير العلوم الصيدلانية |
العنوان | The influence of medical representative visits on prescribing practice of physicians in Jordan and Iraq : a cross-sectional study |
اسم المشرف الرئيسي | رابعه ماجد محمد الروسان | Rabaa AL-Rousan |
اسم المشرف المشارك | | |
اسم الطالب | كرار احسان علي عودة | Karrar Ehsan Ali |
Abstract | Background The promotion of pharmaceutical products aims to influence the prescribing behaviour of healthcare professionals. The market of pharmaceuticals is unique, as the decision of what to prescribe is made by the healthcare professional while it is the patient who will purchase it, therefore, the focus of marketing strategies and promotion is to influence the prescribing decision of the healthcare professionals. Methodology A cross-sectional survey study was conducted to explore the influence of medical representative visits and medical promotion on physicians' prescribing practice between June and October 2020 in Jordan and Iraq. Previously validated questionnaires developed by (Workneh et al., 2016) and (Khazzaka, 2019) were used. Results A total of 801 physicians completed the questionnaires. Of these, 401 (50%) were Jordanian physicians and 400 (50%) were Iraqi physicians. Face-to-face visits, followed by the dispensing of medical samples, were the two most common promotional methods used by medical representatives (MRs). Around 48% of participating physicians reported that they would accept the marketing promotional tools offered to them. The vast majority of the participating physicians (86.8%) reported that they had received marketing promotional tools from MRs. The most commonly offered marketing promotional tool was drug samples. More than half of the participating physicians reported that the MRs mainly focused on the price and the brand name of the product. Nearly 49% of the participating physicians reported that MRs were frequently accurate in their information. MRs targeted the key selling points of their product during medical promotions. Additionally, 39.6% of the physicians reported that MRs had a negative attitude towards their competitors' products. Around 69.9% of the physicians reported that they would change their practice after participating in conferences or meetings. The majority of physicians (77.6%) accepted gifts of low cost for drug promotion. Around half of the physicians (47.9%) reported that they thought that expensive recreational gifts were acceptable in drug promotion. More than half of the physicians (54.2%) reported that they used free medical samples to treat their patients. The vast majority (92.0%) of the physicians reported that there is a need to strengthen ethical standards to control the interaction between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry and that MRs should have professional and ethical certification to practise their profession (97.0%). Additionally, around 96.3% of the physicians reported that they considered it right to regulate the number of visits of MRs to doctors. Conclusions Medical promotional tools have a clear influence on physicians' prescribing practices in Jordan and Iraq. Therefore, medical promotion should be controlled and guided by clear and country-specific ethical guidelines. This will ensure safe medical promotion to healthcare professionals and optimize healthcare practices provided to patients. |
الأبحاث المستلة |