Rx Drugs Getting Comparable OTC Brand Awareness
Prescription drugs are achieving the same level of consumer awareness as over-the-counter drugs largely due to the FDA's relaxed guidelines for television advertising, according to a new survey by The DTC Monitor.
This year, the number of consumers who contacted their physician about a medication or treatment they saw promoted in a television commercial nearly doubled to 14 percent, up from 8 percent in 1997.
Brands with major direct-to-consumer (DTC) TV advertising campaigns like Allegra, Pravachol and Valtrex generated more than a 50 percent boost in consumer awareness in 1998 from 1997, according to the survey of 4,000 adults nationwide.
And although consumer awareness of prescription advertising is holding steady at 70 percent this year (versus 71 percent in 1997), 35 percent say they saw the ads on television, up from 19 percent last year.
Market Measures Inc. in Livingston, N.J., publishes The DTC Monitor, which analyzes consumer perceptions of DTC advertising campaigns.
(DTC Monitor, Peter Johnson 800/456-4405)
Health Benefits of 'The Pill' Not Well-Publicized
Despite the increasing number of women using oral contraception, few are aware of the added health benefits that range from the reduced risks of ovarian and endometrial cancer to acne, according to a new poll by the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) in Washington, D.C.
Women taking birth control pills are satisfied with their effectiveness, convenience and ease of use but are most concerned with potential side effects. Nearly 90 percent said that a "low or no side effect profile" is the most important aspect of whatever oral contraception method they use. This issue supercedes concerns over sexually transmitted diseases, spontaneity and cost, according to the poll of 1,147 women between the ages of 18 and 44.
Other key findings include:
- 62 percent of women who say they take birth control pills for reasons other than pregnancy prevention understand that they help regulate menstrual cycles;
- few women are aware of non-contraceptive benefits of birth control pills like reducing the risks of ovarian and endometrial cancer.
- more than 25 percent of women believe that cancer is a major potential side effect of taking oral contraception.
- more than 10 million women use birth control pills.
(APGO, Tom Norton, 202/955-6222)
Disabled Women Less Likely To Get Cancer Screening
Cancer screening initiatives are falling short of reaching disabled women and if Year 2000 goals are to be met, outreach to this target will have to become more aggressive, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
By the year 2000, health officials hope that 85 percent of all women age 18 and older will receive a Pap test every three years and 80 percent of women 40 and older will have had at least one mammogram. According to the CDC survey, 76% of women with no disabilities had had a Pap test within the preceding three years, compared with 65 percent of those with one or two functional limitations and 60 percent of those with three or more limitations.
The report cites key obstacles to screening, including:
- disabled women having difficulty using standard examination tables;
- mobile mammography trailers being inaccessible; and
- healthcare workers being reluctant to screen disabled women because of the examination difficulties involved and their assumption that these patients are not sexually active.
The study is based on findings from a 1994 National Health Interview Survey, which involved more than 11,400 adult women.
It is published in the Oct. 16 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
(CDC, 404/693-3311; http://www.cdc.gov.)