Online Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Stem Cell Therapy for Musculoskeletal Injury and Disease: Misinformation and Violation of Ethical and Legal Advertising Parameters.
J Bone Joint Surg Am
; 102(1): 2-9, 2020 Jan 02.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31770294
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
There has been a recent surge in health-care providers offering stem cell therapy (SCT) to patients with musculoskeletal disease. The purpose of this study was to identify and quantify the misinformation present in online direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of SCT targeting patients with musculoskeletal disease in the U.S. It was hypothesized that DTC advertising of SCT contains substantial misinformation.METHODS:
A list of keywords was used to identify web sites of practices advertising SCT directly to patients with musculoskeletal disease. Web sites were evaluated to determine the specialties of providers offering SCT, types of SCT being advertised, and misinformation presented. Categories of misinformation included false general claims, inaccurate statements regarding mechanism of action, unfounded results, and scare tactics.RESULTS:
Of the 896 practice web sites included in the analysis, 95.9% contained at least 1 statement of misinformation, with a mean of 4.65 ± 3.66 statements of misinformation among the sites. Practices associated with an orthopaedic surgeon provided 22% fewer statements of misinformation than practices without an orthopaedic surgeon when we controlled for the effects of other specialties. Practices associated with a podiatrist also provided 22% fewer statements of misinformation.CONCLUSIONS:
Nearly all practices failed to accurately represent the clinical efficacy of SCT in DTC advertising. While practices associated with an orthopaedic surgeon were less likely to provide misinformation, the majority of all web sites contained some type of misinformation, ranging from errors in the basic science of stem cells to outright false and misleading claims of their clinical effectiveness.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Asunto principal:
Enfermedades Musculoesqueléticas
/
Tratamiento Basado en Trasplante de Células y Tejidos
/
Publicidad Directa al Consumidor
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Bone Joint Surg Am
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article