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Study, 2011

How does pharmaceutical company marketing affect who gets diagnosed with PMDD?

This article examines how drug companies market PMDD to the public and shows how marketing affects diagnosis and treatment decisions.

Early or limited evidence General public exposed to pharmaceutical marketing for PMDD

What they did

Analyzed pharmaceutical company marketing campaigns that were marketed directly to the public, particularly looking at self-diagnosis tools and symptom checklists.

What they found

The marketing campaigns use self-diagnosis tools designed to turn people into patients seeking a PMDD diagnosis and the company's branded drug. Marketing campaigns influence how diseases are defined and who gets diagnosed in ways that benefit the drug company.

What it means for you

This is a social and business analysis of how diseases get defined and marketed to patients. It's not a medical study testing whether a treatment works. This shows that some diagnosis definitions in healthcare are influenced by business interests, not only by medical science.

About the study

Original title
'Get with the Program!': pharmaceutical marketing, symptom checklists and self-diagnosis
Authors
Ebeling M
Journal
Social science & medicine (1982)
Year
2011
Study design
Study
What was tested
Marketing campaigns and self-diagnosis tools

Topics