How physicians choose their drugs

The author described how general practitioners in Sweden make their choice of drugs, with one of the central components being the physician's disposition towards drugs for a specific disease.

Abstract

In this article the author described how general practitioners in Sweden make their choice of drugs. Habitual vs nonhabitual choice processes are discussed. The nonhabitual choice process is described in detail, one of the central components being the physician's disposition towards drugs for a specific disease. An account is given of a study in which the dispositions of doctors were measured in three dimensions: curing effect, side effects and cost. This was done for each physician and for each of the drugs in the sample. By using linear multiple regression analyses it was found that physicians tend to give the highest weight to the curing effect. Variations were associated with the disease in question, and with the age of the physician. No significant relationship was found between the drug chosen and the background variables of the physicians.