title: [The scientific information that the pharmaceutical industry provides to family doctors].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To check whether the information in the written publicity that the pharmaceutical industry gives to family doctors really is based on the scientific studies that support it.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Health centre on the outskirts of a big city.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a year, all the scientific studies that laboratory reps gave family doctors along with the advertising for medicines were collected. A total of 63 paired studies and advertising pieces were obtained.
  
  
  METHODS
  1-3 advertising messages with each supporting study were selected and reviewed in a structured fashion. Then whether or not the messages selected were based on the study was appraised.
  
  
  RESULTS
  44.5% of the advertising messages were not based on the accompanying study; 29.9% clearly were based on the study; and in the rest there was a half-and-half relationship. There was a significant relationship between the evaluation of the advertising messages and the kind of study, masking and the kind of result variable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high proportion of advertising messages are not based on the study that is reputed to support them. A critique of these studies has to be undertaken before the advertising messages can be looked at.
authors.affiliation: CS Fuensanta, Valencia, Spain. frivera@comv.es
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rivera Casares
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Richart Rufino
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Navas Cutanda
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodríguez Górriz
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gómez Moruno
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gómez García
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising / Q000592:standards; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000592:standards*; D004346:Drug Information Services; D006801:Humans; D010174:Pamphlets; D010821:Physicians, Family