title: Factors influencing the prescribing patterns in acute watery diarrhoea.
abstract: Two hundred sixty-two randomly sampled general physicians of Lahore were interviewed to study the current practices and factors affecting the management of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in children below 5 years of age. Among the physicians, 19% prescribed ORS alone, 61% ORS with some drug, 15% drugs alone and 5% increased fluid intake only. Physicians in government sector, recent graduates and those trained in a paediatrics unit prescribed more on the WHO guidelines (p<0.05). Attending a diarrhoea training unit (DTU) course, reading WHO guidelines for management of diarrhoea and total number of patients seen daily had no significant effect on prescribing practices. Two hundred fifty-five (97%) physicians thought that majority of other physicians prescribed drugs for the management of acute watery diarrhoea to satisfy the mothers of the children, their belief in the effectiveness of drugs and competition in practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Allama Iqbal Medical College and Institute of Public Health, Lahore.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Choudhry
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mubasher
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000930:Antidiarrheals / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000628:therapy*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education; D005260:Female; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D010154:Pakistan; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011364:Professional Practice; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D015532:Rehydration Solutions / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D000930:Antidiarrheals; D015532:Rehydration Solutions