Evaluation of pharmaceutical industry - Sponsored educational events attended by physicians in Pakistan

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to identify and document various medical educational events attended by physicians in Pakistan. A cross-sectional study using a structured questionnaire was undertaken with a representative sample of physicians in four major cities: Bahawalpur and Lahore in Punjab province and Loralai and Quetta in Balochistan province. All the data were analyzed using SPSS version 15. Frequencies and percentages were used to summarize the data, and Chi-squared tests, Fisher Exact tests, and Spearman rho were used whenever appropriate. The main study finding indicated that most of the physicians (i.e. general practitioners (GP), GP/specialists and specialists) had attended industry-sponsored educational events. It was found that 173 (69.2%) of 250 respondents attended 727 educational events during the last 1 year. Of these 727 events, 222 (30.54%) were lectures, 207 (29.47%) were scientific conferences, 112 (15.41%) were drug launching ceremonies, 58 (7.98%) were seminars, 38 (5.23%) were training courses and 29 (3.99%) were discussion forums. Out of 173, most of the doctors attended educational events organized by professional organizations of the medical community and sponsored/co-organized by the pharmaceutical industry (n = 115, 67.3%; p = 0.001). Some of them (n = 27, 15.8%) attended the events which were organized by pharmaceutical companies independently, without involvement of professional organizations. The pharmaceutical industry was the largest sponsor source for physicians (n = 123, 71.9%) to attend educational events. The type of expenses paid for attending the educational events included meals (n = 162, 94.7%), accommodations (n = 118, 96%; p < 0.001), airfare (n = 96, 56%; p < 0.001), registration fees (n = 96, 56%; p < 0.001), taxi fare (n = 75, 43.9%; p = 0.012), and participation fees (n = 14, 8.2%). Educational events are extensively being used as a promotional tool for pharmaceutical products. The findings of the current study reflect the significant role of the pharmaceutical industry in the organization of doctor-led educational events.