Study Finds Ads for Many Aussie Orthopaedic Surgeons Don’t Comply With Guidelines

Study Finds Ads for Many Aussie Orthopaedic Surgeons Don’t Comply With Guidelines
Drugs prescribed to strengthen bones can have the opposite effect and lead to devastating consequences, research finds. (Image Point Fr/Shutterstock)
Marina Zhang
4/19/2022
Updated:
4/19/2022

Research led by the University of New South Wales has found “large proportions” of online advertising for orthopaedic surgeons non-compliant, with “only one-quarter” of surgeons compliant with guidelines.

“Non-compliance [in our study] was often characterised by unverified claims of reputation and skill, or misleading representations of the benefits of treatment,” the authors wrote.

“As patients increasingly rely on online health information, it is important that surgeons recognise that misleading information on their websites can have serious implications for informed patient decisions.”

Orthopaedic surgeons are clinicians specialised in both surgical and non-surgical treatment of bones, joints, ligaments, and tendons, such as knee and hip joint implants and treatment.

The research team, led by Dr. Sam Adie from University of New South Wales sampled two groups of orthopaedic surgeons for their online advertising compliance.

Eighty-one clinicians with public details were randomly selected from the Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA) database and 59 surgeons were found through top Google search results by searching the profession with a the name of a major Australian city.

The study found the majority of surgeons in both groups were non-compliant across the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and AOA guidelines.

Further, surgeons found through top search results were more prevalent for non-compliance than members from the AOA.

In total, the team found over 60 percent of the AOA sample were “non-compliant” in at least one AHPRA guidelines and or AOA guidelines. For clinicians found through Google, 81 percent were non-compliant with AHPRA guidelines and 78 percent with AOA guidelines.

Of concern, the team found that less than one-quarter of surgeons (20 out of 81) in the AOA sample group and only seven out of 59 surgeons in the top Google search results were compliant for both AHRA and AOA guidelines in their online advertising.

The primary area of non-compliance in online media was in the use of deceptive, misleading or “superior performance” claims; taking up the majority of non-compliance across both groups.

Non-compliance of giving testimonies was also significant across both groups with over half of the Google sample using testimonies in their marketing.

This was concerning as previous studies in the United States have found that “inaccuracies and misleading information in online orthopaedic surgery advertisements could lead to negative outcomes for patients.”

Additionally, the team noted that the majority of surgeons who were non-compliant for referencing commercial products (51 percent of non-compliance) also failed to disclose commercial relationships (46 percent of non-compliance).

With many surgeons having financial links with the industry, non-disclosure of commercial relationships could lead them to prefer certain products and “potentially compromise patient care.”

This was especially significant in clinicians making misleading claims on superiority of robotic surgery over standard surgery with 14 percent of AOA members and 29 percent of surgeons in the Google sample making these claims, despite the AOA specifically advising members not to do so.

“Increasing patient demand for specific treatments can lead to inappropriate use of health care resources and adoption of novel technologies of still uncertain efficacy,” the team wrote.

The authors also expressed concern at the greater prevalence of non-compliance in top Google search group as internet consumption for health information become prevalent in patients.

“Patients are most likely to visit the webpages linked with the top ten search results,” and view advertising that employ more aggressive marketing strategies, the team noted.

“Our findings suggest surgeons must take greater care with the information they publish online, and that the AHPRA and AOA must undertake further steps to enforce compliance with their advertising guidelines.”

Marina Zhang is a health writer for The Epoch Times, based in New York. She mainly covers stories on COVID-19 and the healthcare system and has a bachelors in biomedicine from The University of Melbourne. Contact her at [email protected].
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