title: General practitioner attitudes to prescribing hepatitis C antiviral therapy in a community setting.
abstract: There is a growing debate about the prescription of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antiviral therapies within a community setting in Australia. This study aimed to identify interest and confidence among general practitioners (GPs) in prescribing HCV antiviral therapy in a community setting. Data from 580 GPs who responded to a cross-sectional population-based survey were analysed to measure: self-reported interest and confidence in initiating HCV antiviral therapy; and/or prescribing maintenance antiviral therapy; and self-perceived education needs about HCV antiviral therapy. Forty-two percent of respondents indicated they would be interested in prescribing HCV antiviral therapy. Most were not confident to initiate therapy (80%). Higher proportions indicated that they would be more confident in prescribing maintenance therapy (35%) rather than initiating (7%) therapy (z=10.5, P<0.001). Confidence in prescribing was related to a higher caseload of patients with HCV (P=0.001) and being a HIV community-based prescriber (P=0.002). Fifty-three percent of respondents expressed an interest in education about HCV antiviral therapy. The initial step to recruit potential primary care prescribers of HCV antiviral therapies should be to develop an integrated education program. Recruitment to this program might be most efficient from GPs with a high caseload of patients with HCV.
authors: School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia. s.lambert@uq.edu.au
authors: Stephen M
authors: SM
authors: Lambert
authors: Andrew N
authors: AN
authors: Page
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Wittmann
authors: Jeremy S
authors: JS
authors: Hayllar
authors: Clint W
authors: CW
authors: Ferndale
authors: Tanya M
authors: TM
authors: Bain
authors: Graeme A
authors: GA
authors: Macdonald
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D058005:General Practitioners; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents