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Attitudinal Dimensions that Determine Pharmacists’ Decisions to Support DTCA of Prescription Medication

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Abstract

The use of consumers as a channel of marketing prescription drugs is now being more thoroughly explored by the pharmaceutical industry through direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). As medication distributor and counselor, the pharmacist is in a unique position to observe the effects of DTCA. The purpose of this study was to assess pharmacists’ attitudes toward DTCA. A survey mailed to a randomized statewide sample of pharmacists solicited their level of agreement to 24, Likert-type items pertaining to the possible effects of DTCA in addition to requesting relevant respondent demographic information. Results indicated that 59% of the pharmacists did not support DTCA. Chi-squared analysis indicated that support of DTCA was independent of respondent demographics. Factor analysis revealed four underlying dimensions (“action,” “disruption,” “knowledge,” and “market”) explaining 53.4% of the variance in attitudes. Discriminant analysis was used to correctly classify 76% of respondents as supporters and nonsupported of DTCA. The study concludes that pharmacists believe in the possibility of numerous entwined effects of DTCA, resulting in a complex composition of their attitudes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mylan School of Pharmacy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15282, USA

    Shane Paul Desselle PhD (Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Administration)

  2. College of Pharmacy, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota, USA

    Rajender Aparasu PhD (Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Administration)

Authors
  1. Shane Paul Desselle PhD
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  2. Rajender Aparasu PhD
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Correspondence to Shane Paul Desselle PhD.

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Desselle, S.P., Aparasu, R. Attitudinal Dimensions that Determine Pharmacists’ Decisions to Support DTCA of Prescription Medication. Ther Innov Regul Sci 34, 103–114 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1177/009286150003400114

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