Acceptance of pharmaceutical gifts. Variability by specialty and job rank in a Saudi healthcare setting

OBJECTIVE: To examine the variability in accepting different types of gifts by clinical specialty as well as job rank among physicians working in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out between March and July of 2012 in different regions of Saudi Arabia. A self-administrated questionnaire was developed and administered to all participants, both in paper and electronic formats.

RESULTS: A total of 281 participants answered the question ‘do you accept pharmaceutical gifts and/or promotions?’ Most of the participants (80.1%) admitted acceptance of pharmaceutical gifts of any type. The most common gifts accepted were free drug samples (58.2%), stationary items such as pens and notepads (52.9%), free meals (37.8%), financial support to attend educational activities (33.3%), prepaid promotion cards/codes (7.1%), and funding research (5.8%).While there were no significant differences in the overall gift acceptance by job rank or specialty, there were significant differences in type-specific gift acceptance by job rank and specialty. There were some differences in the reasons behind gift acceptance by specialty and job rank.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that gift acceptance among physicians working in Saudi Arabia is common; however, there was no significant differences in the overall gift acceptance by job rank or specialty. Nevertheless, there were significant differences in type-specific gift acceptance by job rank and specialty.