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Prescription Pattern and Its Influencing Factors in Chinese County Hospitals: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Author

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  • Heng Wang
  • NianNian Li
  • Haidi Zhu
  • Shuman Xu
  • Hua Lu
  • ZhanChun Feng

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate prescription patterns and influencing factors in Chinese county hospitals. Methods: Prescription quality was evaluated by five indicators proposed by WHO/INRUD. A questionnaire for doctors was designed by our research group. All internists, surgeons, obstetricians, gynecologists and pediatricians from 10 county hospitals in Anhui province were asked to fill the questionnaire. Their prescriptions from May 2011 to April 2012 were analyzed. Results: Three-hundred and thirty-seven doctors completed valid questionnaires, and 5099 prescriptions were analyzed. The average number of drugs per prescription was 3.52±2.31; the average percentage of generic drugs, antibiotic usage, injection drug usage, and drugs prescribed from the national essential drug list were 96.12%, 29.90%, 20.02% and 48.85%, respectively. Differences in final academic degree and specialty led to differences in all of the five prescription quality indicators. The older doctors tended to use more antibiotics. Doctors with more education, more training on rational drug use, and better acquisition of medicine knowledge prescribe a lower percentage of generic drugs. Moreover, the more supportive the doctor’s attitude to national essential medicine policy, the higher the percentage of generic drugs were prescribed. A higher level of medical knowledge was associated with a higher percentage of drugs prescribed from the essential drugs list. Conclusions: Promoting the education of medical knowledge on doctors, reinforcing the publicity of rational drug use to doctors, and initiating the performance evaluation for doctors are effective ways for improving prescription quality in Chinese county hospitals.

Suggested Citation

  • Heng Wang & NianNian Li & Haidi Zhu & Shuman Xu & Hua Lu & ZhanChun Feng, 2013. "Prescription Pattern and Its Influencing Factors in Chinese County Hospitals: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(5), pages 1-9, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0063225
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063225
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    Cited by:

    1. Shubham Atal & Ratinder Jhaj & Akanksha Mathur & Niket Rai & Saurav Misra & Balakrishnan Sadasivam, 2021. "Outpatient prescribing trends, rational use of medicine and impact of prescription audit with feedback at a tertiary care centre in India," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 738-753, May.
    2. Xuan Wang & Yuqing Tang & Xiaopeng Zhang & Xi Yin & Xin Du & Xinping Zhang, 2014. "Effect of Publicly Reporting Performance Data of Medicine Use on Injection Use: A Quasi-Experimental Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-7, October.
    3. Currie, Janet & Lin, Wanchuan & Meng, Juanjuan, 2014. "Addressing antibiotic abuse in China: An experimental audit study," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 39-51.
    4. Guan, Xiaodong & Tian, Ye & Song, Jiafang & Zhu, Dawei & Shi, Luwen, 2019. "Effect of physicians' knowledge on antibiotics rational use in China's county hospitals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 149-155.
    5. Cunhui Wang & Niannian Li & Heng Wang & Hongyan Yin & Yunwu Zhao, 2018. "Study on essential drug use status and its influencing factors among cerebral infarction inpatients in county level hospitals of Anhui Province, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-12, April.

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