Beliefs and practices of physicians in Lebanon regarding promotional gifts and interactions with pharmaceutical companies.

Autor:	Shaarani I; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Hasbini J; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Farhat R; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Safawi N; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Sleiman J; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Hammoud AK; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Fayad T; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Khazaal D; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Elkhatib O; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon., Berjaoui H; Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Eastern Mediterranean health journal = La revue de sante de la Mediterranee orientale = al-Majallah al-sihhiyah li-sharq al-mutawassit [East Mediterr Health J] 2024 Feb 25; Vol. 30 (2), pp. 116-124. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 25.
DOI:	10.26719/emhj.24.027
Abstrakt:	Background: Pharmaceutical companies invest greatly in promotional gifts to influence prescription of medications by physicians, yet there is limited published information evaluating its impact on healthcare. Aim: This study aimed to assess the beliefs and practices of physicians in Lebanon regarding promotional gifts and their interactions with representatives of pharmaceutical companies. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2019 and January 2020 through an email-based questionnaire sent to 5936 physicians of different specialties registered in the Lebanese Order of Physicians. Assessment was done using a validated tool and data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 26.0. Results: Of the 268 respondents, 188 (70.4%) reported that physicians in Lebanon accepted gifts from representatives of pharmaceutical companies. Most of the physicians (31.7%) interacted with company representatives more than once a week. Medication samples (251 respondents) and stationary items (222 respondents) were the most common gifts accepted by physicians who admitted accepting gifts. Overall, 225 (84.9%) respondents believed that prescriptions by physicians in Lebanon were influenced by the gifts. Only 74 (40.0%) of those who accepted gifts from pharmaceutical companies believed that it was unethical, and around half did not know if the Lebanese Code of Medical Ethics allowed them to accept gifts from pharmaceutical companies. Conclusion: Although physicians in Lebanon were aware of the effect that gifts from pharmaceutical companies could have on their prescription behaviours, many of them still accepted the gifts. This study provides evidence to policymakers for decision-making regarding ethical guidance on interactions between physicians and pharmaceutical companies in Lebanon. (Copyright: © Authors 2024; Licensee: World Health Organization. EMHJ is an open access journal. All papers published in EMHJ are available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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