BACKGROUND Protected learning time (PLT) schemes have been set up in primary care across the UK. There is little published evidence of their effectiveness. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of a PLT intervention for general practice to increase prescribing of ramipril for prevention of cardiovascular outcomes. DESIGN Quasi-experimental, interrupted time series. SETTING Lincolnshire, UK....

BACKGROUND Current clinical guidelines recommend non-pharmacological interventions as first-line treatments for young patients aged 16-24 years with a mental health condition (MHC). However, several studies have noted increasing trends in psychotropic prescribing for this age group, especially in antidepressant prescribing. In Australia, the vast majority of psychotropic medications prescribed ...

OBJECTIVES Observation without initial antibiotic therapy was accepted as an option for acute otitis media (AOM) management in the 2004 American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians clinical practice guideline. The guideline also recommended amoxicillin as the first-line treatment for most children, and analgesic treatment to reduce pain if it was present. Our objecti...

BACKGROUND Teaching of medication prescribing is a specific challenge in general practice curriculum. The aim of this study was to identify and rank the competencies required for prescribing medication for general practice residents in France. METHODS Qualitative consensus study using the nominal group technique. We invited different stakeholders of the general practice curriculum and medicat...

BACKGROUND Taking folic acid supplement during periconception period is effective to prevent neural tube defects. Unfortunately, a minority of Ethiopian women took folic acid supplement during this period. Low consumption of folic acid might be correlated with knowledge and prescribing practice of health professionals. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess knowledge and prescribing prac...

Use of statin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been recommended by most clinical guidelines. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among T2DM patients. It has been proved that statins are effective for primary or secondary CVD prophylaxis. Reports have highlighted the underutilization of statins in clinical practice and the subopt...

The practice of off-label prescribing, i.e. prescribing drugs either for unregistered/unapproved therapeutic indications and age groups or using unregistered/unapproved doses or methods of administration, is common in older patients. This may be due to the poor representation of this group in pre-marketing clinical trials assessing therapeutic efficacy and safety of novel therapies or merely to...

The study of psychotropic prescribing habits of professional colleagues has become important because of the widespread and unrestricted use of these drugs and the adverse effects of their longterm use. Furthermore, the irrational use of benzodiazepines and prophylactic use of antiparkinsonian drugs is a common practice in psychiatric, teaching and general hospitals especially in developing coun...

AIM To explore the relationship between actual and expected general medical practitioner (GP) practice prescribing rates for statins, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and beta-blockers. BACKGROUND There is a growing body of literature highlighting inequities in GP practice prescribing rates for many drug therapies. The equity of prescribing is of central importance in the area ...

BACKGROUND Suggestions of overprescribing of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for long-term treatment in primary care have been raised. This study aims to analyse associations between general practice characteristics and initiating long-term treatment with PPIs. METHODS A nationwide register-based cohort study of patients over 18 years redeeming first-time prescription for PPI issued by a genera...