Table 3.

Summary of Study Characteristics

Author, Year	Setting/Focus	Design	Participants	DTCA Definition	Outcomes		Results
Allison-Ottey et al., 2003	General practice clinics (n=8) across 5 states; Psychiatry specific?: No	Observational point of service (POS); Doctors recorded patient behaviors after patient visits; Blinding: None	N = 11 physicians, 1065 patients; Participation rate: not reported	Doctors asked: Did the patient ask you about a specific medication that they saw advertised?	1)	Patient requests for DTCA	DTCA requests: 9% of patients
Kravitz et al., 2005	Primary care clinics in 3 cities across 2 states; Psychiatry specific?: Yes, antidepressants	RCT; Standardized patients (SPs) portray 2 conditions (depression/MDD, adjustment/ADJ) and make 3 requests (brand-specific/B, general/G, none/N); Blinding: Doctors and session raters	N = 152 physicians, 298 visits; Participation rate: 53–61% across practices	SPs used scripts to request a DTCA drug by name (B condition) or by class (G condition; antidepressant seen on TV)	1)	Physician prescribing rates for MDD and ADJ	Reported consecutively for B, G, and N groups. MDD prescribing rates: 53%, 76%, 31%. Adjustment prescribing: 55%, 39%, 10%. Minimally acceptable care for MDD rates: 90%, 98%, 56%.
					2)	Physician meeting minimally acceptable guidelines for MDD
Mintzes et al., 2003	Primary care clinics across 2 cities in U.S. and Canada; Psychiatry-specific?: No	Two-group observational POS; Doctors recorded patient behaviors after consecutive patient visits in 2 settings; Blinding: Patients	N (U.S. only) = 38 physicians, 683 patients Participation rate: 61% physicians, 69% patients	Doctors recorded if patient requested any prescription. Two raters coded drug as DTCA if it was among 50 most heavily advertised in past year.	1)	Patient requests for DTCA	DTCA requests: 7.2% of patients Prescribing rates: 78% of DTCA requests given prescription
					2)	Physician prescribing rates
Parnes et al., 2005	Primary care clinics (n=22) across one state; Psychiatry specific?: No	Observational POS; Doctors recorded patient behaviors after consecutive patient visits; Blinding: Patients	N = 168 doctors, 1647 patients; Participation rate: 22% of physician practices	Doctors recorded if patient requested any prescription. Two coders rated if drug had been advertised recently.	1)	Patient requests for DTCA	DTCA requests: 2.6% of patients (3.5% made any request) Prescribing rates: 72% of all requests given prescription
					2)	Physician prescribing rates

^aAbbreviations: DTCA = direct-to-consumer advertising