Variations in understanding the drug-prescribing process: a qualitative study among Swedish GPs.

Fam Pract

Department of Drug Management and Informatics, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden.

Published: April 2009

Background: A majority of doctor-patient meetings result in the patient getting a prescription. This underlines the need for a high-quality prescription process. While studies have been made on single therapeutic drug groups, a complete study of the physicians' general thought process that comprises the prescription of all drugs still remains to be made.

Objective: To identify variations in ways of understanding drug prescribing among GPs.

Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with 20 Swedish physicians. Informants were recruited purposively and their understandings about prescribing were studied in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using a phenomenographic approach.

Results: Five categories were identified as follows: (A) GP prescribed safe, reliable and well-documented drugs for obvious complaints; (B) GP sought to convince the patient of the most effective drug treatment; (C) GP chose the best drug treatment taking into consideration the patient's entire life situation; (D) GP used clinical judgement and close follow-up to minimize unnecessary drug prescribing and (E) GP prescribed drugs which are cheap for society and environmentally friendly. The categories are interrelated, but have different foci: the biomedical, the patient and the society. Each GP had more than one view but none included all five. The findings also indicate that complexity increases when a drug is prescribed for primary or secondary prevention.

Conclusions: GPs understand prescribing differently despite similar external circumstances. The most significant factor to influence prescribing behaviour was the physician's patient relation approach. GPs may need to reflect on difficulties they face while prescribing to enhance their understandings.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmn103DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

qualitative study
8
drug prescribing
8
drug treatment
8
drug
6
prescribing
6
variations understanding
4
understanding drug-prescribing
4
drug-prescribing process
4
process qualitative
4
study swedish
4

Similar Publications

Purpose: Understanding barriers to compliance can aid in mitigation strategies to address them. This study aims to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the relationship between barriers to ERAS recommendations and perceived ability to assure compliance among multidisciplinary team (MDT) members who deliver Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) care.

Design: Embedded mixed-methods survey analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Identifying factors that enhance the stages of behavior change and nurses' readiness to evacuate patients during disasters can facilitate the proper management of the patient evacuation process in emergencies. This study aimed to identify the factors related to the stages of behavior change and nurses' readiness to evacuate patients during disasters.

Methods: This qualitative study was conducted as a directed content analysis using the Hsieh and Shannon method and the MAXQDA 2020 software.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Unmet health care needs are seen as a key indicator of equity in access to health care. With younger people, they can lead to poorer health outcomes in adulthood, and in older people they can be associated with an increased risk of mortality. The presence of a disability is considered a risk factor for unmet needs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A conceptual framework for identifying and managing system vulnerabilities for diversion of controlled substances in healthcare.

Res Social Adm Pharm

January 2025

Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Suite 425, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3M6, Canada; Research & Innovation, North York General Hospital, 4001 Leslie Street, Toronto, Ontario, M2K 1E1, Canada.

Purpose: Diversion or theft of controlled substances is a recognized problem affecting healthcare systems globally. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for identifying and characterizing system factors leading to vulnerabilities for diversion within hospitals.

Methods: We applied a qualitative framework method, which involved 1) compiling a list of critical diversion vulnerabilities through observations and proactive risk analyses in the inpatient pharmacy, emergency department and intensive care unit of two Canadian hospitals; 2) coding the vulnerabilities into deductively and inductively derived themes and subthemes; and 3) building a conceptual framework.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Persons with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are a growing population, frequently living with complex health conditions and unmet healthcare needs. Traditional clinical practice and research methods and measures may require adaptation to reflect their preferences.

Objective: The perspectives of people with IDD, caregivers/partners, and clinicians were obtained to provide insight into factors contributing to the health and wellness of people with IDD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!