NielsenHealth Launches 32 Ailment Panels in U.S.

Findings Show 62% of U.S. Over-the-Counter Zyrtec Buyers Use Allergy Prescription Drugs;

OTC likely to Challenge Prescription Allergy Market

April 24, 2008- New York, NY- NielsenHealth, a Nielsen Company service focused on healthcare, released findings today that show 62% of Zyrtec OTC buyers took an allergy prescription in the last 12 months, and of those buyers, more than 53% claimed to be “very satisfied” with their Rx allergy medication at the time.

“This is an important finding,” said Matt Dumas, Managing Director of NielsenHealth, “and a signal that OTC alternatives to allergy prescriptions may become the preference to both consumers and managed care providers in large part due to efficacy and price.”  

The findings are from NielsenHealth’s newly launched Allergy Panel, one of 32 new NielsenHealth Ailment Panels being launched to provide manufacturers and retailers insights into consumer related attitudes and behaviors of patients suffering important diseases and medical conditions. 

The NielsenHealth Ailment Panels consist of 110,000 U.S. consumers identified as suffering from one or more ailments tracked by Nielsen, including allergy, gastro-intestinal and conditions like diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.  Each Panel tracks panelists suffering a specific condition and their actual purchases, demographics, as well as critical patient facts relating to their specific conditions and treatment regimes.

The NielsenHealth Ailment Panels are a subset of the Nielsen Homescan Panel, which tracks the attitudes and behaviors of 125,000 U.S. households longitudinally over time.  This enables the Panels to capture panelist purchases of health related products together with other household purchases.  The large sample size allows Nielsen clients to obtain granular insights at the brand and store level for greater actionability not found with other longitudinal healthcare panels.

Additional findings from the Allergy Panel show that 42% of Zyrtec OTC buyers who claim to experience spring time allergies have severe allergy symptoms.   The research also found that 22% of the allergy sufferers in the Panel treat their condition with Rx medication alone and 23% use concomitant Rx-OTC therapies.  “This could have a significant impact on the holistic allergy market because it suggests that severe sufferers see OTC as an option whereas before this patient tended to migrate to Rx options only or concomitant Rx-OTC usage,” said Dumas, “It would not be surprising to see sufferers shift more to using OTC medications only over the next 6-12 months.”

Dumas concluded, “As demonstrated by our work in the allergy category, the NielsenHealth Ailment Panels help manufacturers and retailers view patients as consumers in how and why they make the choices they do as a unique buyer group.” 

About NielsenHealth

NielsenHealth, is a Nielsen Company service focusing on healthcare related issues facing manufacturing, retail and media clients. The group takes a “consumer-centric” approach to critical targeting, marketing effectiveness and media related healthcare issues integrating The Nielsen Company’s proprietary data and methodologies in the consumer and media space.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com.

 

 

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