Communicating therapeutic indication information in direct-to-consumer television ads for prescription cancer drugs: Exploring the effect of dual-modality presentations.

The ads were for fictional drugs, so this does not show how real patients behave when they see real ads or talk with their care team. Participants were U.S. adults from an online consumer panel, not necessarily patients or families asking about a specific drug. The study ads had minimal competing visuals or audio, which may be a best-case scenario compared with cluttered real direct-to-consumer ads. Recall analyses included only participants who first understood eligibility criteria, which reduced the sample and the ability to detect effects. The question about noticing the indication had no distractor statements, so reported noticing may be too high. Some control-group participants answered correctly without seeing the additional indication details, possibly by guessing or prior knowledge. Only two complex cancer indications were tested, so it is unclear how this applies to simpler indications or other populations.

Do not conclude that voice-over plus on-screen text in these fictional ads reliably makes people understand complex cancer drug eligibility. It helped people notice and recognize the indication more often than no details, but it did not significantly improve understanding that only patients meeting specific guidelines can take the drug, and many still could not identify who qualifies.