The Quantity and Quality of Scientific Graphs in Pharmaceutical Advertisements
Journal Title: Journal of General Internal Medicine - Year 2003, Vol 18, Issue 4
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.
Authors and Affiliations
Richelle J Cooper, David L Schriger, Roger C Wallace, Vladislav J Mikulich, Michael S Wilkes
Keywords
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- EP ID EP679574
- DOI 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x
- Views 44
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