title: Do male and female general practitioners differently prescribe chronic pain drugs to older patients?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between general practitioner (GP) gender and prescribing practice of chronic pain drugs in older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  GPs in private practice throughout France.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and sixty GPs (80.8% male and 19.2% female) enrolled 1,379 (28.4% male and 71.6% female) noninstitutionalized patients over 65 years of age, suffering from chronic pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comparison of prescribing habits between male and female GPs was performed on baseline data with univariate analyses followed by multivariate analyses after taking several confounding factors into account.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were found when comparing male and female GPs' prescriptions of World Health Organization step 1, step 2, and step 3 analgesics. Male GPs were more likely than female GPs to prescribe antineuropathic pain drugs (11.3% of patients with male GPs versus 4.8% of patients with female GPs, P = 0.004) and less likely to prescribe symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SySADOA) (10.2% of male GPs' patients versus 18.8% of female GPs' patients, P = 0.0003). After adjusting for several confounding factors, male GPs were still more likely to prescribe antineuropathic pain drugs (OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.15-5.14, P = 0.02) and less likely to prescribe symptomatic slow-acting drugs (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.42-0.97, P = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Male and female GPs prescribe analgesics in a similar manner. However, male GPs prescribe more antineuropathic pain drugs, but fewer SySADOA.
authors.affiliation: Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine Paris-Sud, University Paris-Sud; Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Bicêtre, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lazkani
authors.forename: Tiba
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Delespierre
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benattar-Zibi
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bertin
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Corruble
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Derumeaux
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Falissard
authors.forename: Francoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Forette
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hanon
authors.forename: Celine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piedvache
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Becquemont
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics
keywords: Chronic Pain Drugs; Gender; General Practitioner; Older Adults