ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2011
Influence of patient payment on antibiotic prescribing in Irish general practice: a cohort study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Neglect of focus on income and private practice in ethics textbooks.Irish journal of medical science · 2026Article
- Australian general practice registrars' billing patterns: a cross-sectional analysis from the Registrars Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Trends in antibiotic prescribing in primary care out-of-hours doctors' services in Ireland.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2024Article
- Prescribing differences among older adults with differing health cover and socioeconomic status: a cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2023Observational
- A scoping review and behavioural analysis of factors underlying overuse of antimicrobials.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- Antibiotic use for acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) in primary care; what factors affect prescribing and why is it important? A narrative review.Irish journal of medical science · 2018Review
- Combined assessment of clinical and patient factors on doctors' decisions to prescribe antibiotics.BMC family practice · 2016Article
- Improving antimicrobial prescribing in Irish primary care through electronic data collection and surveillance: a feasibility study.BMC family practice · 2015Article
- Article
- Enabling factors for antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections: perspectives of Lithuanian and Russian general practitioners.Upsala journal of medical sciences · 2013Article
- Irrational antibiotic prescribing: a local issue or global concern?EXCLI journal · 2013Article
- Article
- Doctors' behaviours with antibiotic prescribing.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2012Article
- Antibiotic prescribing in primary care, adherence to guidelines and unnecessary prescribing--an Irish perspective.BMC family practice · 2012Article
- Prescribing safety: the case of inappropriate medicines.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011Article
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3 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntibiotics are widely believed to be overused and misused. Approximately 80% of all prescriptions for antibiotics are written by GPs. There are many external factors that influence a GP's decision to prescribe, including patient pressure. Access to primary care services operates on a two-tier system in the Republic of Ireland: General Medical Service (GMS) card holders have free access to GPs and medications; and non-card holders (private patients) must pay a non-subsidised fee to visit their GP.
aimTo ascertain whether there was a difference in antibiotic prescribing practice between those who pay a fee for their GP consultation and those who attend free of charge. DESIGN AND
settingCohort study in Irish general practice.
methodAll GPs attending continuing medical education (CME) groups nationwide were invited to participate from October 2008 until April 2010. GPs gathered data on 100 consecutive consultations including diagnosis and patient characteristics.
resultsData were collected from 171 GPs (distributed throughout Ireland), which resulted in 16 899 consultations. Antibiotics were prescribed at 3407 (20.16%) consultations. Nearly half of the prescriptions were for GMS card holders (n = 1669; 48.99%) and 1526 (44.79%) were for private patients; for 212 (6.22%) the payment status of the patient was unknown. Private patients were more likely to receive a prescription for antibiotics (odds ratio 1.23, 95% confidence interval = 1.14 to 1.33).
conclusionThese results demonstrate that a GP's decision to provide a prescription for antibiotics may be influenced by whether or not the patient pays for their consultation at the GP interface. Private patients are more likely than GMS card holders to receive a prescription for antibiotics.
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