Ads That Work - For Treatment Adherence

An article in today’s LA Times, See ad, kick the habit?, reports on a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Political Economy that has ramifications for patient compliance.

The study’s results indicate that

According to Alan Mathios, a professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University, advertising used to sell smoking-cessation products apparently has “important spillover effects,” possibly including the reinforcement of public anti-smoking messages and enhancing the determination of individuals who have ceased tobacco use not to relapse. Mathios goes on to note that “the public-health returns to smoking-cessation product advertisements exceed the private returns to the manufacturers.”

Commentary

While the Journal of Political Economy is the first medical journal on my reading list, the study is certainly intriguing and worth following up. It is also gratifying to think that some of the same advertising techniques that led so many to begin smoking might be effective aids to stop.

Further, it would seem likely that those methodologies could support other positive healthcare changes as well.

• NY Times Coverage Of Patient Compliance
• Self-Reported Vs Actual Compliance With Mammogram Screening By Older Women
• Bandolier On Patient Compliance
• 98.6% Medication Compliance
• Compliance, Cognitive Dissonance, and Cults