Originally published as JCO Early Release 10.1200/JCO.2008.20.6599 on August 3 2009

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Rights & Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Abel, G. A. Articles by Weeks, J. C. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Abel, G. A. Articles by Weeks, J. C. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

Cancer-Related Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Awareness, Perceptions, and Reported Impact Among Patients Undergoing Active Cancer Treatment

From the Center for Outcomes and Policy Research and the Division of Women's Cancers, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Corresponding author: Gregory A. Abel, MD, MPH, Center for Outcomes and Policy Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney St, Smith 271, Boston, MA 02115; e-mail: gregory_abel{at}dfci.harvard.edu.

Purpose Although cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising (CR-DTCA) is prevalent, little is known about cancer patients' experiences with this controversial medium of medical communication.

Methods We administered a 41-item, mailed questionnaire to consecutive patients with breast and hematologic malignancies who were undergoing active treatment at our institution. We assessed awareness of CR-DTCA within the prior year, perceptions of CR-DTCA, and CR-DTCA–prompted patient and provider behaviors.

Results We received 348 completed questionnaires (response rate, 75.0%). Overall, 86.2% reported being aware of CR-DTCA, most frequently from television (77.7%). Awareness did not vary with clinical or sociodemographic factors except that patients were more likely to be aware of CR-DTCA for products specific to their cancer types (P < .0001). A majority of those aware reported that CR-DTCA made them "aware of treatments they did not know about" (62.2%), provided information in "a balanced manner" (65.2%), and helped them to have "better discussions" with their provider (56.8%). These perceptions were significantly more favorable among those who had not graduated from college (P < .05 for each). Overall, 11.2% reported that CR-DTCA made them "less confident" in their providers' judgment. Of those aware, 17.3% reported talking to their provider about an advertised medication, although less than one fifth of those reported receiving a prescription for the advertised medication.

Conclusion The patients in our cohort were highly aware of CR-DTCA. CR-DTCA was found to be accessible and useful; however, it decreased some patients' confidence in their providers' judgment. CR-DTCA prompted a modest amount of patient-provider discussion but infrequent patient-reported changes in therapy.

Supported by a Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology Cancer Foundation.

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?