Study finds Rx oncology ads are often hard to read

Study finds Rx oncology ads are often hard to read

Drug ads aimed at cancer patients are often difficult to read and may emphasize the benefit information over the risks, according to a new study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Researchers analyzed all ads for oncology drugs that appeared in three cancer patient-focused magazines in 2005. Although all of the ads were rated as difficult to read overall, the text outlining the drugs' benefits had the highest readability score. Information about the drugs' benefits tended to appear in the top third of the ads, whereas information about risks and side effects was in the bottom third. Also, the type size of the text explaining benefits was larger than the text explaining risks, according to the analysis. The research is being presented this week during the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Atlanta.