Direct-to-consumer television advertising of prescription drugs may be persuading Americans that they are sicker than they really are - and in greater need of medication -according to a UCLA study published Jan. 29 in the Annals of Family Medicine.

The study is the first to analyze the content of direct-to-consumer television advertising, assessing both the educational value of these ads and the ways in which they attempt to influence consumers. Researchers examined 38 unique TV ads for drugs that address a range of ailments, from high blood pressure and high cholesterol to depression and insomnia.

Lead author Dominick L. Frosch, assistant professor of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said that the television ads have virtually no educational value. In addition, they generally rely on emotional appeals that fail to describe who is most at risk for certain health problems, what the symptoms of these problems are, and whether lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise are viable alternatives to drugs.

"We're seeing a dramatization of health problems that many people used to manage without prescription drugs," Frosch said. "The ads send the message that you need drugs to manage these problems and that without medication your life will be less enjoyable, more painful and maybe even out of control."

The United States and New Zealand are the only developed countries that permit direct-to-consumer television advertising of prescription drugs. The government of New Zealand is currently considering an outright ban of the practice. Frosch said that the United States might want to consider a similar move.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Cancer Institute's Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research funded the study.

-UCLA-
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