Medical students' exposure to and attitudes about the pharmaceutical industry: a systematic review |
| |
Authors: | Austad Kirsten E Avorn Jerry Kesselheim Aaron S |
| |
Institution: | Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. |
| |
Abstract: | BackgroundThe relationship between health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry
has become a source of controversy. Physicians'' attitudes towards the
industry can form early in their careers, but little is known about this key
stage of development.Methods and FindingsWe performed a systematic review reported according to PRISMA guidelines to
determine the frequency and nature of medical students'' exposure to the
drug industry, as well as students'' attitudes concerning pharmaceutical
policy issues. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and ERIC from
the earliest available dates through May 2010, as well as bibliographies of
selected studies. We sought original studies that reported quantitative or
qualitative data about medical students'' exposure to pharmaceutical
marketing, their attitudes about marketing practices, relationships with
industry, and related pharmaceutical policy issues. Studies were separated,
where possible, into those that addressed preclinical versus clinical
training, and were quality rated using a standard methodology. Thirty-two
studies met inclusion criteria. We found that 40%–100%
of medical students reported interacting with the pharmaceutical industry. A
substantial proportion of students (13%–69%) were
reported as believing that gifts from industry influence prescribing. Eight
studies reported a correlation between frequency of contact and favorable
attitudes toward industry interactions. Students were more approving of
gifts to physicians or medical students than to government officials.
Certain attitudes appeared to change during medical school, though a time
trend was not performed; for example, clinical students
(53%–71%) were more likely than preclinical students
(29%–62%) to report that promotional information helps
educate about new drugs.ConclusionsUndergraduate medical education provides substantial contact with
pharmaceutical marketing, and the extent of such contact is associated with
positive attitudes about marketing and skepticism about negative
implications of these interactions. These results support future research
into the association between exposure and attitudes, as well as any
modifiable factors that contribute to attitudinal changes during medical
education.
Please see later in the article for the Editors'' Summary |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|