title: Prescribing patterns for Alzheimer disease: survey of Canadian family physicians.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe Canadian family physicians' prescribing practices with regard to Alzheimer disease (AD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey administered by facsimile.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four regions in Canada (British Columbia, the Prairie Provinces, Ontario, and the Atlantic Provinces).
  
  
  METHODS
  A stratified random sample of 1000 Canadian family physicians (250 per region) chosen from the Canadian Medical Directory; 81 of whom were excluded as ineligible.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prescribing practices regarding cholinesterase inhibitors (ChIs) for patients with AD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Response rate was 36.3%. About 27% of respondents reported that ChIs were prescribed for less than 10% of their AD patients, while 12.5% reported that ChIs were prescribed for more than 90% of their AD patients. More physicians prescribed ChIs in the two regions with provincial formulary coverage (Prairie Provinces and Ontario) than in the two regions without coverage (British Columbia and Atlantic Provinces). Factors that significantly predicted lower prescribing rates included female sex, perception of ChIs' effectiveness, and self-reported knowledge of ChIs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Canadian physicians' prescribing patterns for ChIs vary; the optimal prescribing rate is unclear. Provincial coverage of these drugs along with physicians' sex, knowledge of ChIs, and perception of the effectiveness of ChIs appear to influence prescribing rates.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ontario.
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hillmer
authors.forename: Murray
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krahn
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hillmer
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pariser
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Naglie
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002170:Canada; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors