title: Colleague interactions and new drug prescribing behavior: the case of the initial prescription of antidepressants in Taiwanese medical centers.
abstract: This research explores the social factors influencing hospital physicians' initial adoption of duloxetine hydrochloride, with a focus on colleague interactions. The study analyzes archival data compiled by the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan to examine how the prescribing decisions made by psychiatrists' colleagues influence the likelihood of the psychiatrists' initial prescription. The results show that the adoption ratio of a physician's colleagues in a medical center is positively associated with the likelihood of a physician's adoption of the new drug. Specifically, colleague groups with similar and longer tenure as well as similar and older age have significantly positive effects. Colleague groups with the same and different gender also have positive effects. In summary, tenure and age, rather than gender, are vital sources of heterogeneous colleague interactions.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Global Business and Strategy, National Taiwan Normal University, 162 He-ping East Rd., Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan. lin.sj@ntnu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Shu-Jou
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Kuan-An
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.forename: Jen-Tse
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy; D000068736:Duloxetine Hydrochloride; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011570:Psychiatry; D013624:Taiwan; D013876:Thiophenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D013876:Thiophenes; D000068736:Duloxetine Hydrochloride