The effects of a postgraduate course on opioid-prescribing patterns of general practitioners.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The objective of this study is to evaluate whether a single palliative cancer care workshop, which included information about drug prescribing, had an effect on the opioid-prescription patterns of general practitioners in daily practice.

METHOD:

The opioid-prescription figures of 68 general practitioners who had participated in the workshop were aggregated from the computer system of the Regional Sick Fund. The prescription figures of a year before and a year after the workshop were compared and a control group of non-participants was included.

RESULTS:

This study showed a limited efficacy of a palliative cancer care workshop on the morphine-prescription figures of the general practitioners in daily practice. This limited effect did not accord with the results of a pre- and post-workshop questionnaire evaluating the attitudes of the same practitioners.

CONCLUSION:

A single workshop can not effectuate substantial changes in prescription behaviors. Possibilities for more reinforcements are discussed.

• Authors: K W Schuit, R Otter, R Stewart, D T Sleijfer, W J Meijler, B Meyboom-De Jong
• Journal: Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education (J Cancer Educ) Vol. 15 Issue 4 Pg. 214-7 ( 2000) ISSN: 0885-8195 [Print] England
• PMID: 11199238 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Controlled Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Narcotics
• Morphine
• Fentanyl

Topics

• Drug Utilization
• Education, Medical, Continuing
• Family Practice (education)
• Fentanyl (therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Morphine (therapeutic use)
• Narcotics (therapeutic use)
• Netherlands
• Odds Ratio
• Palliative Care (statistics & numerical data)
• Practice Guidelines as Topic
• Practice Patterns, Physicians'