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- Title
The quantity and quality of scientific graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements.
- Authors
Cooper, Richelle J.; Schriger, David L.; Wallace, Roger C.; Mikulich, Vladislav J.; Wilkes, Michael S.
- Abstract
We characterized the quantity and quality of graphs in all pharmaceutical advertisements, in the 10 U.S. medical journals. Four hundred eighty-four unique advertisements (of 3,185 total advertisements) contained 836 glossy and 455 small-print pages. Forty-nine percent of glossy page area was nonscientific figures/images, 0.4% tables, and 1.6% scientific graphs (74 graphs in 64 advertisements). All 74 graphs were univariate displays, 4% were distributions, and 4% contained confidence intervals for summary measures. Extraneous decoration (66%) and redundancy (46%) were common. Fifty-eight percent of graphs presented an outcome relevant to the drug's indication. Numeric distortion, specifically prohibited by FDA regulations, occurred in 36% of graphs.
- Subjects
UNITED States; GRAPHIC methods; DRUG advertising; PHARMACEUTICAL industry
- Publication
JGIM: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2003, Vol 18, Issue 4, p294
- ISSN
0884-8734
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x