Table 1.
Characteristics of Physicians and Promotional Interactions
| Participating physicians | Vancouver (n = 64) | Montreal (n = 65) | Sacramento (n = 57) | Toulouse (n = 69) | Total (n = 255) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 63 % | 46 % | 68 % | 78 % | 63 % |
| Graduation yr (mean ± sd) | 1986 ± 12 | 1983 ± 9 | 1991 ± 9 | 1986 ± 10 | 1986 ± 10 |
| Solo practice | 16 % | 20 % | 23 % | 36 % | 24 % |
| Fee-for-service | 96 % | 62 % | 56 % | 91 % | 77 % |
| Patients/week (mean ± sd) | 166 ± 55 | 96 ± 47 | 103 ± 59 | 110 ± 35 | 119 ± 57 |
| PSR visits ≥ twice a week | 59 % | 38 % | 84 % | 88 % | 67 % |
| Medical faculty affiliation* | 38 % | 28 % | 43 % | 17 % | 31 % |
| Any pharmaceutical industry funding† | 30 % | 34 % | 24 % | 42 % | 33 % |
| Drug-specific promotions | N = 418 | N = 423 | N = 445 | N = 406 | N = 1692 |
| Number of unique brands | 112 | 120 | 135 | 150 | 342 |
| Previously prescribed | 74 % | 74 % | 73 % | 70 % | 73 % |
| Sales visit ≤ 5 min | 49 % | 39 % | 56 % | 36 % | 45 % |
| One-to-one session | 76 % | 80 % | 78 % | 96 % | 82 % |
| Free samples provided | 75 % | 57 % | 57 % | 4 % | 49 % |
| Lunch or food provided | 23 % | 9 % | 24 % | 0.2 % | 14 % |
| Invited to an event | 10 % | 19 % | 9 % | 8 % | 12 % |
| Invited to participate in study | 1 % | 2 % | 0 | 5 % | 2 % |
*Preceptor or clinical instructor for students, interns and/or residents
†Industry funding was for study participation (n = 50), advisory boards (n = 30), speaker’s bureaus (n = 24), travel expenses (n = 19), unrestricted educational grants (n = 12), research (n = 6), other (n = 7)