title: Effectiveness of three interventions on primary care physicians' medication prescribing in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia.
abstract: A number of strategies have been shown to improve the quality of drug prescriptions. The objective of this study was to implement and assess the effectiveness of 3 interventions on physicians' prescribing and cost containment: training physicians about quality prescribing; regulatory and administrative measures to improve rational drug prescribing; and a multi-faceted approach using 2 these strategies plus additional elements. Three public health centres, 1 for each intervention, were randomly selected; 61 physicians were trained in drug prescribing and completed a pre- and post-training questionnaire; and 100 post-intervention prescriptions from each centre were compared. All 3 interventions effectively improved the quality of drug prescriptions and the notation of drug-related information and trainees returned positive evaluations of the training course. Whether or not physicians' improvement in prescribing will be sustained is unclear and therefore subsequent follow-up evaluations are needed.
authors: General Administration for Mental Health and Social Services and Medical Research, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. qureshinaseem@live.com
authors: N A
authors: NA
authors: Qureshi
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Neyaz
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Khoja
authors: M A
authors: MA
authors: Magzoub
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Haycox
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Walley
mesh_terms: D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012529:Saudi Arabia