Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16299

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Comer B
Between the doc and pharmacy, patients get online, says survey
Medical Marketing & Media 2009 Aug 25
http://www.mmm-online.com/Between-the-doc-and-pharmacy-patients-get-online-says-survey/article/147227

Full text:

Just 35% of the individuals surveyed by About.com in June said they would fill a prescription on doctor’s orders after a diagnosis, without first doing research online.

Forty-seven percent said they would use a search engine to find more information about their specific condition, and a combined 36% said they would either go to a specific health website for more condition-related information (20%), or use a search engine to compare different treatment options (16%), according to the survey.

When asked what kinds of advertising grabs their attention, 29% of the surveyed respondents chose “information about a certain condition (sign, symptom, etc.),” with 28% pointing to information about medication side effects and safety, as an attention-grabber. Information about how to cope with a condition (20%) and free trial information (18%) registered slightly lower.

A majority of respondents to the survey said that after seeing an ad, they either spoke with their doctor (38%) or researched the drug in more detail online (36%). Less than 20% of the respondents spoke to friends or family for recommendations about the drug, visited the pharmaceutical company’s website, or asked their doctor for a sample or script.

Erica McDonald, a spokesperson for About.com Health, said the survey looked specifically at healthcare ads online, as opposed to ads appearing in other media.

About.com’s Health Site Intercept Study surveyed opt-in participants over three days in early June 2009, with a final participation number of 1,870. Respondents visiting three of About.com’s channels – parenting, health and food – were invited via pop-up to participate in the survey.