Perception, knowledge and attitudinal assessment of drug promotional literature among second year, medical undergraduate students: a questionnaire-based study

Abstract

Background: WHO defines drug promotion literature (DPL) as “all informational and persuasive activities by manufacturers, the effect of which is to induce the prescription, supply, purchase and/or use of medicinal drugs”. Benefit driven marketing of new drugs by drug companies may lead to erroneous prescription due to insufficient understanding, knowledge of safety and therapeutic benefits of the drugs in the community. All these promotional activities influence the prescribing pattern of doctors. 2nd year of undergraduate medical course is the appropriate time to educate the medical undergraduate students about fundamentals of DPL and to train them accordingly for improving their prescribing behaviour eventually. Methods: A prospective questionnaire-based study was conducted in Goa Medical College. The study participants consisted of 150 II-year undergraduate medical students. Approval from Institutional Ethics Committee was obtained. The feedback forms were collected from the students after they were completed and data was analysed and represented as counts and percentages. Results: Among respondents 36% of students opined that the quality of details provided by medical representatives is biased and too commercial followed by others. 40.7% of students were of the view that the most important intervention needed to reduce the impact of drug promotion on prescribing was to formulate policies and guidelines for the health care authorities. Conclusions: Promotional activities by manufacturers influence the attitude and prescribing pattern of doctors. So, it is of utmost importance to train medical graduates in order to enable them to develop the skill of critical analysis of DPL and consequently rational prescribing.