Attitudes and Relationship between Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry in a Public General Hospital in

Background: The interaction between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry influences physicians ’ attitudes and prescribing behavior. Although largely studied in the US, this topic has not been well studied in resource-poor settings, where a close relationship between physicians and industry still exists. Objective: To describe physician interactions with and attitudes towards the pharmaceutical industry in a public general hospital in Lima, Peru. Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional study through an anonymous, self-filled questionnaire distributed among faculty and trainee physicians of five different clinical departments working in a Peruvian public general hospital. A transcultural validation of an existing Spanish questionnaire was performed. Exposure to marketing activities, motivations to contact pharmaceutical representatives and attitudes towards industry were studied. Collected data was analyzed by degree of training, clinical department, gender and teaching status. Attitudes were measured on a four-point LIKERT scale. Results: 155 physicians completed the survey, of which 148 were included in the study sample. 94.5 % of attending physicians reported ongoing encounters with pharmaceutical representatives. The most common industry-related activities were receiving medical samples (91.2%), promotional material (87.8%) and attending meetings in restaurants (81.8%). Respondents considered medical samples and continuing medical education the most ethically acceptable benefits. W