A recent study published in "JAMA Network" revealed that after the issuance of a newspaper article discussing the usage of low-dose oral Minoxidil for hair loss treatment, there was a swift surge in its prescribing. This study was carried out using prescription drug data to investigate changes in the prescribing of oral Minoxidil following the widespread coverage of the article in the news and social media. For this study, data was analyzed from the Truveta database, which contained electronic health records from several US healthcare systems, to identify adults who were prescribed oral Minoxidil from 1st January 2021 to 31 December 2022.

The study encompassed individuals treated in eight health systems, mainly residing in thirteen states, and who were given Minoxidil for the first time either before (January to July 2022) or after (August to December 2022) the article issuance. In this cross-sectional study, researchers measured the weekly rate of first-time  Minoxidil prescriptions for different tablet strengths and carried out interrupted time-series assessments to examine alterations in prescription rates. These changes were compared to the prescribing patterns of low-dose Finasteride for hair loss and antihypertensive medications.

Out of the 6,541 patients who received first-time oral Minoxidil prescriptions, 41.0% were males, 36.8% were aged between 45-64 years, and the racial distribution was 7.5% Asian, 12.5% Black, and 65.2% White, with 10.2% being Hispanic. Among these patients, 2,846 patients were given prescriptions in the seven months prior to the article publication, while 3,695 patients were given prescriptions in the five months post-publication. After the publication, there was an increase in the proportion of males (43.6% vs. 37.7%) and White individuals (68.6% vs. 60.8%).

On the other hand, there was a decrease in the percentage of individuals with comorbidities after the article was published, as compared to before (hypertension: 38.3% vs. 46.7%; chronic kidney disease: 14.4% vs. 22.3%; diabetes: 16.0% vs. 22.1%). Furthermore, the rate of new Minoxidil prescriptions per 10,000 outpatient encounters per week was remarkably greater during the eight weeks following the publication of the article compared to the eight weeks prior. Overall, there were 0.9 prescriptions (95% CI, 0.8-1.0 prescriptions) per 10,000 outpatient encounters after publication, compared to 0.5 prescriptions (95% CI, 0.4-0.6 prescriptions) before publication, with a statistically significant difference.

This increase was observed for both males (1.1 prescriptions [95% CI, 0.9-1.3 prescriptions]) and females (0.8 prescriptions [95% CI, 0.7-0.9 prescriptions]), showing a 2.4-fold increase and a 1.7-fold increase, respectively. However, after the initial surge linked with the publication of the article, the prescription rates dropped overall for both males and females. No similar rise was observed in first-time prescriptions for Finasteride or hypertension. 

Following the release of a newspaper article that discussed the utilization of low-dose oral Minoxidil as a treatment for hair loss, there was an immediate surge in prescription rates. The absence of new research findings or large-scale randomized evidence was a notable aspect of the article. However, the findings indicated that media coverage alone, even without fresh research or substantial evidence, can prompt immediate shifts in prescribing practices. It is important to note that these changes may not be long-lasting.

It is important to understand the underlying factors associated with this prescribing behavior change among patients and doctors, as well as the differences observed between males and females. Socioeconomic factors like accessibility to healthcare, education, and income levels, may influence a person's decision to seek low-dose oral Minoxidil following reading of the article.