Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Through interview data, I explore how a person manages an illness that fails to be clearly defined as a stigmatizing mark. This situation creates a person who is both socially isolated due to her own perception of having a stigma, but also intricately dependent on the social environment in order to determine whether that environment allows for this perception of her behavior or mark. Because of the ambiguity of a “stigma” label, the moral career of a “potentially” stigmatized person does not necessarily assume a fixed pattern of interaction given a particular locale or group, as suggested by Goffman. In this paper, I further Goffman’s initial work on stigma management by exploring the decision-making processes of women with allergies in light of the liminal and shifting sense of what is actually being stigmatized. The stigma for allergies comes from this liminal definitional state and the person’s ability or inability to manage the meaning of allergies. It does not come from an established assignment of discredibility to an attribute by “the finger tips of society.” Thus, for women with allergies, choices about illness management are often not about the illness and a designation of stigma prior to interaction, but complex life experiences that define what that designation should be at any given moment. This necessitates particular understandings of self and identity and a type of artfulness to interacting within one’s environment not explored by Goffman.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Objectives:
The objective of the study is to explore the relationship between DTCA for prescription medication for seasonal allergy and the resulting impact on consumer behavior.

Methods:
This study was based on a one-group, after-only procedure. A purposive sample of US residents with email addresses was obtained. The survey instrument consisted of 68 items assessing medication use for seasonal allergy as well as capturing data about: 1) television advertisements viewed, 2) if the physician was asked about the drug featured in the advertisement, and 3) whether a subsequent visit resulted in a change of medication. Inferential tests, frequency counts, percentages, and descriptive analyses were used to analyze the data. The key tests included crosstab analysis and binomial tests with the Z approximation.

Results:
Of the 478 responders, 91.6% had seen a television advertisement for, and 30.5% took, a prescription medication for seasonal allergy. Of those who indicated the brand they used, Allegra (32.2%), Zyrtec (29.4%), Clarinex (18.5%) were listed. The percentage of responders who reported discussing the brand of medication they saw on television was 12.9%. Of that group, 46.8% confirmed it resulted in a change of medication.

Implications: The findings illustrate potential impact of DTCA on consumer behavior regarding allergy medications. Consequently, there is a need for pharmacists to be qualified to counter-detail to offset DTCA. The next phase of this project will be to assess the prevalence of counter-detailing instruction, especially aimed at the effects of DTCA, in colleges of pharmacy in the US.