[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 220 (Friday, November 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68278-68280]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26918]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2014-N-1819]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Spousal Influence on Consumer Understanding of and 
Response to Direct-To-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an 
opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain 
information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(the PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information and 
to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This 
notice solicits comments on research entitled, ``Spousal Influence on 
Consumer Understanding of and Response to Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) 
Prescription Drug Advertisements.'' This study will examine differences 
between consumers viewing prescription drug ads with a spouse or 
partner versus alone through empirical research.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection 
of information by January 13, 2015.

[[Page 68279]]


ADDRESSES: Submit electronic comments on the collection of information 
to http://www.regulations.gov. Submit written comments on the 
collection of information to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-
305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, 
Rockville, MD 20852. All comments should be identified with the docket 
number found in brackets in the heading of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FDA PRA Staff, Office of Operations, 
Food and Drug Administration, 8455 Colesville Rd., COLE-14526, Silver 
Spring, MD 20993-0002, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal 
Agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. 
``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 
1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of 
the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a 
third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) 
requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal 
Register concerning each proposed collection of information before 
submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this 
requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection of 
information set forth in this document.
    With respect to the following collection of information, FDA 
invites comments on these topics: (1) Whether the proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's 
functions, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques, when 
appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

Spousal Influence on Consumer Understanding of and Response to DTC 
Prescription Drug Advertisements--(OMB Control Number 0910-NEW)

    Section 1701(a)(4) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300u(a)(4)) authorizes the FDA to conduct research relating to health 
information. Section 1003(d)(2)(C) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 393(b)(2)(c)) authorizes FDA to 
conduct research relating to drugs and other FDA regulated products in 
carrying out the provisions of the FD&C Act.
    Consumers are often thought of as individual targets for 
prescription drug advertisements (ads), as if they are always exposed 
to DTC ads individually and subsequently make judgments about 
advertised products on their own. However, judgments about prescription 
drugs portrayed in DTC ads are likely made in social contexts much of 
the time. For example, a potential consumer and his or her spouse 
(e.g., marital or domestic partner) may view an ad together and discuss 
drug benefits, side effects, and risks. These social interactions may 
result in unique reactions relative to consumers who view DTC 
prescription drug ads alone. For example, spouses may influence their 
partner by expressing concern about risks and side effects that might 
occur, or pressuring their partner to consider the drug despite its 
risks and side effects. These outcomes have important public health 
implications. The Office of Prescription Drug Promotion plans to 
examine differences between consumers viewing prescription drug ads 
with a spouse versus alone through empirical research.
    The main study will be preceded by pretesting, designed to 
delineate the procedures and measures used in the main study. Pretest 
and main study participants will be couples who are married or in a 
marital-like living arrangement in which one member (consumer) has 
asthma and the other does not (spouse). All participants will be 18 
years of age or older. We will exclude individuals who work in 
healthcare or marketing settings because their knowledge and 
experiences may not reflect those of the average consumer. Data 
collection will take place in person.
    Participants will be randomly assigned to one of four experimental 
conditions in a 2 x 2 design, as depicted in Table 1. We will compare 
one version of an ad that depicts a low-benefit and low-risk drug with 
a second version that depicts a high-benefit and high-risk drug. 
Participants will be randomly assigned to view the ad alone or together 
with their spouse. Participants in both viewing conditions will 
individually complete a prequestionnaire. In the ``together'' 
condition, participants will view the ad with their spouse and then 
engage in a brief discussion together about the ad. In the ``alone'' 
condition, participants will view the ad without their spouse, take a 
short break, and then respond to a postquestionnaire consisting of 
questions about information in the ad. The short break in the ``alone'' 
condition will facilitate reflection about the ad to mirror discussion 
engaged in by those in the ``together'' condition. The consumer in the 
``together'' condition will complete the same postquestionnaire 
administered to those in the ``alone'' condition, and the spouse will 
complete a slightly different questionnaire that assesses key measures 
that relate to consumer reactions. These procedures are depicted in 
Table 2. Participation is estimated to take approximately 60 minutes.
    Preliminary measures are designed to assess memory and 
understanding of risk and benefit information as well as other ad 
content, intention to seek more information about the product, and 
variables pertaining to the consumer-spouse relationship such as 
relationship closeness and communication style. The draft questionnaire 
is available upon request.

                   Table 1--Experimental Study Design
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                                          Risk/Benefit condition
                                ----------------------------------------
       Viewing condition             Low risk/low       High risk/high
                                       benefit              benefit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alone..........................  Condition A........  Condition B.
Together.......................  Condition C........  Condition D.
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[[Page 68280]]


   Table 2--Overview of Data Collection Process for Alone and Together
                               Conditions
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                                            Viewing condition
             Steps              ----------------------------------------
                                        Alone              Together
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1..............................  Consumer completes   Consumer and
                                  prequestionnaire.    spouse complete
                                                       prequestionnaire
                                                       separately
                                                       (spouse completes
                                                       selected
                                                       measures).
2..............................  Consumer views       Consumer and
                                  advertising          spouse view
                                  stimuli alone.       advertising
                                                       stimuli together.
3..............................  Break..............  Couples engage in
                                                       a 5-minute
                                                       semistructured
                                                       conversation
                                                       related to the
                                                       advertising
                                                       stimuli.
4..............................  Consumer completes   Consumer and
                                  postquestionnaire.   spouse complete
                                                       postquestionnaire
                                                       separately
                                                       (spouse completes
                                                       selected
                                                       measures).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To examine differences between experimental conditions, we will 
conduct inferential statistical tests such as analysis of variance. 
With the sample size described below, we will have sufficient power to 
detect small-to-medium sized effects in the main study.
    FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as 
follows:

                                  Table 3--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden 1
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                                                            Number of
                Activity                    Number of     responses per   Total annual   Average burden   Total
                                           respondents     respondent       responses     per response    hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pretesting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number to complete the screener........             700               1             700            0.08       56
                                                                                            (5 minutes)
Number of completes....................             120               1             120               1      120
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Main study
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number to complete the screener........           4,060               1           4,060            0.08      325
                                                                                            (5 minutes)
Number of completes....................             792               1             792               1      792
                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total..............................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............    1,293
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of
  information.


    Dated: November 7, 2014.
Leslie Kux,
Assistant Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2014-26918 Filed 11-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P