TY - JOUR
T1 - Prescribing behaviour in clinical practice : patients' expectations and doctors' perceptions of patients' expectations : a questionnaire study
AU - Cockburn, Jill
AU - Pit, Sabrina
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - Objectives: To examine the effect of patients' expectations for medication and doctors' perceptions of patients' expectations on prescribing when patients present with new conditions. Design: Questionnaire study of practitioners and patients. Setting: General practice in Newcastle, Australia. Subjects: 22 nonÂrandomly selected general practitioners and 336 of their patients with a newly diagnosed medical condition. Main outcome measures: Prescription of medication and expectation of it. Results: Medication was prescribed for 169 (50%) patients. After controlling for the presenting condition, patients who expected medication were nearly three times more likely to receive medication (odds ratio = 2.9, 95% confidence interval 1.3 to 6.3). When the general practitioner thought the patient expected medication the patient was 10 times more likely to receive it (odds ratio = 10.1, 5.3 to 19.6). A significant association existed between patients' expectation and doctors' perception of patients' expectation (χ2 = 52.0, df = 4, P = 0.001). For all categories of patient expectation, however, patients were more likely to receive medication when the practitioner judged the patient to want medication than when the practitioner ascribed no expectation to the patient. Conclusions: Although patients brought expectations to the consultation regarding medication, the doctors' opinions about their expectations were the strongest determinants of prescribing.
AB - Objectives: To examine the effect of patients' expectations for medication and doctors' perceptions of patients' expectations on prescribing when patients present with new conditions. Design: Questionnaire study of practitioners and patients. Setting: General practice in Newcastle, Australia. Subjects: 22 nonÂrandomly selected general practitioners and 336 of their patients with a newly diagnosed medical condition. Main outcome measures: Prescription of medication and expectation of it. Results: Medication was prescribed for 169 (50%) patients. After controlling for the presenting condition, patients who expected medication were nearly three times more likely to receive medication (odds ratio = 2.9, 95% confidence interval 1.3 to 6.3). When the general practitioner thought the patient expected medication the patient was 10 times more likely to receive it (odds ratio = 10.1, 5.3 to 19.6). A significant association existed between patients' expectation and doctors' perception of patients' expectation (χ2 = 52.0, df = 4, P = 0.001). For all categories of patient expectation, however, patients were more likely to receive medication when the practitioner judged the patient to want medication than when the practitioner ascribed no expectation to the patient. Conclusions: Although patients brought expectations to the consultation regarding medication, the doctors' opinions about their expectations were the strongest determinants of prescribing.
KW - drugs
KW - physicians (general practice)
KW - prescribing
KW - questionnaires
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:44577
UR - http://search.proquest.com/docview/1777551816?accountid=36155
M3 - Article
SN - 0959-535X
VL - 315
SP - 520
EP - 523
JO - BMJ: British Medical Journal
JF - BMJ: British Medical Journal
IS - 7107
ER -