Impact of Multidisciplinary Guidelines on Prescribing Behavior
Author Information
Author(s): Jody D Martens, Ron AG Winkens, Trudy van der Weijden, Daisy de Bruyn, Johan L Severens
Primary Institution: University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands
Hypothesis
The study hypothesized that an intensive multistage guideline development strategy could lead to a modest but relevant change in prescription volumes.
Conclusion
Disseminating multidisciplinary guidelines has no clear effect on prescribing behavior, indicating that more effort is needed to bring about change.
Supporting Evidence
- Significant short-term improvements were seen for one recommendation: mupirocin.
- Long-term changes were found for cholesterol drug prescriptions.
- Less than 10% of GPs invited to comment on the guidelines actually did so.
Takeaway
The study tried to improve how doctors prescribe medicine by sharing new guidelines, but it didn't really work as hoped.
Methodology
A quasi-experimental pre/post study with a concurrent control group and a randomised trial involving 53 GPs in the intervention group and 54 in the control group.
Potential Biases
The GPs in both groups were not aware they were part of an evaluation study, which may introduce bias in the results.
Limitations
The quasi-experimental design cannot guarantee that observed changes are solely due to the intervention, and the study had a low response rate from GPs invited to comment on the guidelines.
Participant Demographics
The mean age of male GPs in the intervention group was 50.0 years, and 48.8 years for female GPs; 85% of GPs in the intervention group were male.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.0014
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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