[Drug therapy in a nursing home; favorable effect of feedback by the pharmacist on family physician's prescribing behavior].
OBJECTIVE
Investigating whether and how the prescribing behaviour of general practitioners (GPs) can be changed by the pharmacist's feedback.


METHODS
Randomised, prospective.


METHODS
Residential home 'Bernlef', Groningen, the Netherlands.


METHODS
In the period 2 February-18 March 1993 the effect of different ways of sending prescriptions by the pharmacist on medication use was investigated. The 43 GPs of the inhabitants were randomly divided in 3 groups. Group A formed the control group and was requested to send their prescriptions as before, group B moreover received a list with the medication used by their patients, group C also got a list with the actual medication of their patients as well as recommendations by the pharmacist. Effects on medication use were determined after 4 weeks.


RESULTS
The 196 inhabitants used an average of 6.5 drugs (range 0-19). No difference was found between group A and group B, but there was a difference with group C. In all three groups the number of added drugs increased by 5%, but the number of deleted drugs was 7% in group C, as against only 3% in groups A and B (p < 0.05). The feedback of the pharmacist that for 44% of GPs contained new information resulted 9 times in the ending of medication and 4 times in decreasing of the dose.


CONCLUSIONS
Pharmacist's feedback by means of remarks on prescribed medication positively influences prescription behaviour of the GP.
Strikwerda
P
P
Rijksuniversiteit, vakgroep Huisartsgeneeskunde, Groningen.
Bootsma-de Langen
A M
AM
Berghuis
F
F
Meyboom-de Jong
B
B
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004346:Drug Information Services; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005194:Family Practice; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010595:Pharmacists; D011446:Prospective Studies
Farmacotherapie in een verzorgingshuis; gunstige invloed van feed-back door de apotheker op het voorschrijfgedrag van de huisarts.