Character-space-limited online prescription drug communications: Four experimental studies
Helen W Sullivan1, Amie O'Donoghue1, Shane Mannis2
1US Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA.
Background:
Character-space-limited (CSL) communications (e.g., tweets) present a challenge for maintaining fair balance between risks and benefits in direct-to-consumer prescription drug promotion. Current FDA guidance advises incorporating risk information within the CSL communication. Because space is limited, others suggest only linking to risk information.
Objectives:
The primary objectives were to examine the effects of (1) including substantive risk information in CSL communications versus only providing a link to risk information and (2) including risks and benefits versus only risks on the linked landing page.
Methods:
Four experimental studies (N = 469 per study) were conducted. Participants self-reported migraine (Studies 1 and 2) or being overweight (Studies 3 and 4). Participants were instructed to either browse or search a mock Google (Studies 1 and 3) or Twitter (Studies 2 and 4) search page that included the study CSL communication. The CSL communication either did or did not include risk information, and its linked landing page either did or did not include benefit information. Half the participants used a mobile device and half used a desktop/laptop. Participants viewed the search page once without prompting to pay attention to the CSL communication and a second time with prompting.
Results:
Including the risk in the CSL communication increased the likelihood that participants would recognize the risk after the first viewing (three studies) and second viewing (four studies). However, after the second viewing, including the risk decreased the likelihood that participants would click the landing-page link (three studies), and decreased the number of landing-page-only risks recognized (three studies). Including the drug's benefit on the landing page increased benefit recognition (four studies) without negatively affecting risk recognition or risk perceptions (three studies).
Conclusions:
The results provide a first look at the tradeoffs for consumer understanding of drug risks and benefits when drugs are promoted in CSL communications.
Related Concept Videos
01:16Crossover Experiments
Crossover designs are performed even with smaller sample sizes since the samples can act as their controls. These are better than simple randomized trials since patients are exposed to all the treatments.
01:21Factors Affecting Drug Response: Overview
01:16Clinical Trials
There are four phases in a clinical trial. A phase one...
01:02Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs
The misuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a growing problem that can affect people of all age groups, specifically teenagers. This can happen when prescription medications are used in ways not intended by the prescriber, such as taking someone else's prescription or using medication for...
01:28Drug Therapy
Antianxiety Medications
01:26Drug Administration and Therapy Phases: Overview
The pharmaceutical phase focuses on leveraging the physicochemical properties of the drug to design and manufacture an effective product. Variants include orally administered tablets or capsules, topical creams or ointments, and parenteral-delivery solutions or emulsions.
The pharmacokinetic phase...