Are claims of advertisements in medical journals supported by RCTs?

Author(s):
Heimans, L.; Vlieg, A.V.; Dekker, F.W. (0000-0002-2433-2494)
Published
2010
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor

Abstract

Background: Claims made in advertisements in medical journals might not always be supported by high-quality evidence, and referenced studies may have been sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry itself We studied to what extent randomised controlled trials (RCTs) support the claims in advertisements in leading medical journals. Methods: Consecutive unique advertisements were selected from nine different medical journals, and evaluated by 250 medical students using a standardised score form. The quality of RCTs that were referenced in these advertisements was assessed with an instrument based on the Chalmers' score. Results: 158 RCTs from 94 advertisements were used in the study. In total 55% of the RCTs had a high-quality score, 44% intermediate, and

Advertisements claims RCT support pharmaceutical advertisements sponsorship association interests quality trials
Date issued
2010-01-31
Language
English
Is part of
Netherlands Journal of Medicine (2010), Vol. 68, no. 1, p. 46-49
hdl
1887/110426