General public awareness, perceptions and observation towards pharmaceutical advertisements in the Dhaka city of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study

The main objective of this study was to determine the general public awareness, perceptions and observation toward pharmaceutical advertisements. A cross-sectional study design was carried out in Dhaka city. One hundred and Thirty questionnaires were distributed to the general public using the non probability convenience sampling technique. Majority of them were males and with the age group between 30 and 39 years. Most of the respondents are highly educated. Majority of respondents were aware that only drugs without side effects are allowed to be advertised, medical advertisements should seek government approval and only registered drugs are allowed to be advertised. Health related magazines and advertisement on friends and family members have the highest influence on our respondents. Almost half of our respondents believed that advertised drugs are better than non-advertised drugs and another half disagreed that the quality of the frequently advertised products to be better than those prescribed by healthcare professionals. Side effects were the main things that the investigated sample is looking for once they read a pharmaceutical advertisement. Almost 40% of respondents will request their doctor to prescribe them an advertised drug. Most of respondents indicated that they will not change their current medications to a more frequently advertised drug. This study gives a brief knowledge on public awareness toward pharmaceutical advertisements which help the policy maker to implement their rules and regulations.