UC Davis study on drug advertising is “Best Published Research Paper of the Year”

A UC Davis study that showed patients’ requests for specific medications can have a profound effect on physicians prescribing medications for major depression has been selected for the “Best Published Research Paper of the Year Award” by the Society of General Internal Medicine.

The lead author of the study was Richard Kravitz, director of the UC Davis Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care. Titled “Influence of Patients Requests for Direct-to-Consumer Advertised Antidepressants,” the study was published in the April 27, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Society of General Internal Medicine sponsors the award to highlight the outstanding scholarship of its members. The award is based on the contribution the paper has made to generalist research. The award, which carries a cash prize of $250, was presented during the society’s 29th Annual Meeting on April 28 in Los Angeles.

In the study, Kravitz and his research team conducted a randomized trial using trained actors as standardized patients to determine the effects of patients’ direct-to-consumer-related requests on physicians’ initial treatment decisions in patients with depressive symptoms. The researchers found that in major depression, antidepressant prescribing rates were highest for visits in which standardized patients made general requests for medication (76 percent) and lowest for visits in which standardized patients made no requests for medication (31 percent).