title: Knowledge levels of pharmaceutical sales representatives in pain therapy: a descriptive questionnaire-based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pain is a common physiological reaction. The development and sale of medication against pain is a main focus of pharmaceutical companies, with total sales of prescription analgesics amounting to US$50 billion in 2009. In this market, advertising is necessary. One way to market both new and old drugs is through direct physician-to-pharmaceutical sales representative (PSR) contact. PSRs see themselves ideally as equal partners to the physicians they advise, thereby setting high standards for themselves. In this setting, PSRs should therefore have an adequate knowledge of pain therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether these standards can be met by PSRs working in the area of pain medicine in terms of their level of education and knowledge of pain topics.
  
  
  METHODS
  We distributed 114 questionnaires that were divided into demographic and knowledge sections. Of these, 90 questionnaires (79%) were returned completed. Since there is no complete list of PSRs working in pain medicine in Germany, we could not draw a representative sample for our study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We collected general demographic data on PSRs as well as on their educational backgrounds. Analysis of the completed questionnaires revealed that there was a high requirement for PSRs to acquire further education in pain therapy. In the knowledge section, PSRs were asked to rate a total of 70 statements on pain therapy as to whether they were true or false. The mean total of correctly rated statements was 48 (69%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the results, we conclude that most PSRs do not meet their ideal high standards of being equal partners to the specialist physicians they visit. More education is needed to achieve this goal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Pain Center, University Hospital Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauss-Allee 11, 93051 Regensburg, Germany. christoph.lassen@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
authors.forename: Christoph L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lassen
authors.forename: Kirstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fragemann
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Klier
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Bernhard M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.forename: Christoph H R
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Wiese
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010820:Physicians; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics