Gender and images of heart disease in Scandinavian drug advertising.

Aims: This study examines the construction of the "heart disease candidate" in advertisements for cardiovascular drugs in Scandinavian medical journals.

Methods: All advertisements for cardiovascular drugs (n = 603) in Scandinavian medical journals (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) in 2005 were collected. Only advertisements that portray users (n = 289, 48% of the advertisements) were analyzed.