This article aimed to test the general hypothesis that guidelines create uniformity, or reduce variation, in medical practice. Medical practice variation has policy interest and is one of the reasons for developing guidelines. The development and implementation of guidelines was considered in the broader context of processes of rationalization. We focused on the influence of voluntary guideline...

BACKGROUND Written prescriptions of physical activity have increased in popularity. Such schemes have mostly been evaluated in terms of efficacy in clinical trials. This study reports on a physical activity prescription referral scheme implemented in routine primary health care (PHC) in Sweden. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients' self-reported adherence to physical activity prescrip...

Identifying the factors and components of an electronic prescription system is of utmost importance in effective designing and implementation of this system. In this regard, the current study was conducted to determine the main factors affecting the national model of electronic prescription from the physicians’ point of view. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical research carried ou...

Background: In pediatrics, many drugs are used without marketing authorization. Recommendations often based on clinical experience. Therefore, the risk of inappropriate prescription (IP) is high. It necessary to have a tool for pediatric IP detection. Objectives: This study was performed develop and validate Pediatrics: Omission Prescriptions Inappropriate (POPI) screening facilitate its use in...

BACKGROUND To reduce expenditure on, and wastage of, drugs, some commissioners have encouraged general practitioners to issue shorter prescriptions, typically 28 days in length; however, the evidence base for this recommendation is uncertain. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the evidence of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of shorter versus longer prescriptions for people with stable ch...

OBJECTIVE To investigate 1) the patterns of regular prescriptions for benzodiazepines among department clinics in a university teaching hospital, 2) the effects of patient's characteristics on regular benzodiazepine prescriptions, and 3) the patterns of benzodiazepine prescriptions among department clinics from the perspective of pharmacological half-life. PATIENTS Patients were 22,099 outpat...

OBJECTIVE Village doctors, informal health care providers practicing modern medicine, are dominant health care providers in rural Bangladesh. Given their role, it is important to examine their prescription pattern and inappropriate use of medication. METHODS These cross-sectional study data were collected through surveys of patients seen by village doctors during 2008 and 2010 at Chakaria, a ...