Evidence map›Paper›PMID 11701091›Full record

ArticleBMC family practice2001

General Practitioners' views on the provision of nicotine replacement therapy and bupropion.

A McEwen, R West, L Owen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC family practice, 2001. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Factors influencing European GPs' engagement in smoking cessation: a multi-country literature review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2009
    Review
  3. Over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy: can its impact on smoking cessation be enhanced?Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2008
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

A McEwenSt George's Hospital Medical School Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK. amcewen@sghms.ac.uk
R West
L Owen

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNicotine replacement therapies (NRT) and a new drug, bupropion, are licensed in several countries as aids to smoking cessation. General practitioners (GPs) play a crucial role in recommending or prescribing these medications. In the UK there has been discussion about whether the medications should be reimbursable by the National Health Service (NHS). This study assessed English GPs' attitudes towards reimbursement of NRT and bupropion.

methodsPostal survey of a randomly selected national sample of GPs; 376 GPs completed the questionnaire after one reminder; effective response rate: 53%. There was no difference between the responses of GPs who responded to the initial request and those who responded only after a reminder suggesting minimal bias due to non-response.

resultsAttitudes of GPs were remarkably divided on most issues relating to the medications. Forty-three percent thought that bupropion should not be on NHS prescription while 42% thought that it should be (15% did not know); Fifty percent thought that NRT should not be on NHS prescription while 42% thought it should be (8% did not know). Requiring that smokers attend behavioural support programmes to be eligible to receive the medications on NHS prescription made no appreciable difference to the GPs' views. GPs were similarly divided on whether having the medications reimbursable would add unacceptably to their workload or offer a welcome opportunity to discuss smoking with their patients. A principal components analysis of responses to the individual questions on NRT and bupropion revealed that GPs' attitudes could be understood in terms of a single 'pro-con' dimension accounting for 53% of the total variance which made no distinction between the two medications.

conclusionsGPs in England appear to be divided in their attitudes to medications to aid smoking cessation and appear not to discriminate in their views between different types of medication or different aspects of their use. This suggests that their attitudes are generated by quite fundamental values. Addressing these values may be important in encouraging GPs to adhere more closely to national and international guidelines.

Indexed as

Attitude of Health PersonnelInsurance BenefitsInsurance, Pharmaceutical ServicesPhysicians, FamilySmoking CessationAntidepressive Agents, Second-GenerationBupropionData CollectionDrug PrescriptionsFemaleHumansMaleNicotinePractice Patterns, Physicians'State MedicineSurveys and QuestionnairesAntidepressive Agents, Second-GenerationBupropionNicotine

Identifiers

PMID11701091
PMCPMC59675

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.