Abstract
The possible effect of workload on the prescribing of drugs by physicians was studied in 10 primary care pediatricians during a 1-month period. The intraphysician variability revealed a positive correlation (p less than 0.05) between workload and prescription of antibiotics in the case of 2 of the physicians and a negative correlation (p less than 0.05) between workload and prescription of all drug items in another physician. The prescribing of the other 7 was not affected by changes in daily workload. The interphysician variability study revealed a significantly increased rate of prescription of analgesics/antipyretics by physicians with increased monthly workload (r = 0.91, p less than 0.001). These results suggest that although the prescribing habits of a minority of physicians may be affected by their workloads, prescription rates remain stable for the individual physician on most occasions. However, physicians with high workloads tend to prescribe more analgesics/antipyretics than those with low workloads.
| Original language | Hebrew |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 8-11, 72 |
| Journal | Harefuah |
| Volume | 123 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| State | Published - Jul 1992 |
| Externally published | Yes |