(P-158) The Influence of Medical Representative Visits on Prescribing Practice of Physicians in Jordan and Iraq: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: The aim of pharmaceutical products promotion is to influence the prescribing behaviour of healthcare professionals. Prescription drug marketing is unique. Physician decides which drug a patient will purchase, so marketing strategies focus mainly on influencing the decision of the physician.

Objectives: To explore the influence of pharmaceutical products promotion on the prescribing behaviour of healthcare professionals.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted to explore the influence of medical representative visits and medical promotion on physicians’ prescribing practice for between June and October 2020 in Jordan and Iraq.

Results: A total of 801 physicians completed the questionnaires. Of these, 401 (50%) were Jordanian physicians and 400 were Iraqi physicians (50%). Face-to-face visits, followed by the dispensing of medical samples, were the two most commonly used promotional methods used by medical representatives (MRs). Around 48% of participating physicians reported that they would accept the marketing promotional tools offered to them. The vast majority of the participating physicians (86.8%) reported that they had received marketing promotional tools from MRs. The most commonly offered marketing promotional tool was drug samples. More than half of the participating physicians reported that the MRs mainly focused on the price and the brand name of the product. Nearly 49% of the participating physicians reported that MRs were frequently accurate in their information. MRs targeted the key selling points of their product during medical promotions. Additionally, 39.6% of the physicians reported that MRs had a negative attitude towards their competitors’ products. Around 69.9% of the physicians reported that they would change their clinical practice after attending conferences or meetings. The majority of physicians (77.6%) accepted low-cost gifts for drug promotion. Around half of the physicians (47.9%) reported that they thought that expensive recreational gifts were acceptable in drug promotion. More than half of the physicians (54.2%) reported that they used free medical samples to treat their patients.

Conclusions: Medical promotional tools have a clear influence on physicians prescribing practices in Jordan and Iraq. Therefore, medical promotion should be controlled and guided by clear and country-specific ethical guidelines. This will ensure safe medical promotion to healthcare professionals and optimize healthcare practices provided to patients.