Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011:9:13.
doi: 10.4314/pamj.v9i1.71188. Epub 2011 Jun 3.

Sources of drug information and their influence on the prescribing behaviour of doctors in a teaching hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria

Kazeem Adeola Oshikoya  1 , Ibrahim Oreagba, Olayinka Adeyemi
Affiliations

Sources of drug information and their influence on the prescribing behaviour of doctors in a teaching hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria

Kazeem Adeola Oshikoya et al. Pan Afr Med J. 2011.

Abstract

Background: Pharmaceutical drug promotion is a means of informing health professionals about new drugs. The approach is often times unethical and inappropriate and may promote irrational prescribing. Dearth of information on impact of pharmaceutical drug promotion on prescribing behaviour of doctors in developing African countries has necessitated this study. We therefore aimed to determine the sources of drug information for doctors working in a teaching hospital in Nigeria and to assess the self-reported impact of the sources on their prescribing behaviour.

Methods: A total of 163 doctors working at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan in Nigeria were evaluated with a questionnaire for their demographics and sources of drug information. For doctors who relied on drug promotion, they were asked to self-report and self-rate their opinion on extent of interactions with pharmaceutical companies as well as how such interactions had impacted on their prescribing behaviour. Apart from the demographics, each question was evaluated with a typical five-level Likert item. Data analyses were with simple descriptive statistics.

Results: Of the 400 doctors working at UCH, only 40.8% participated in the study. Drug information was sourced from colleagues (161, 98.8%), reference books (158, 96.9%), pharmaceutical sales representatives-PSRs (152, 93.2%), promotion materials (151, 92.6%), scientific papers/journals/internet (149, 91.4%), and drug promotion forum/product launches (144, 88.3%). Each source was highly utilized but there was no wide variation in their pattern of use. According to the self-report of over a half of the respondents, PSRs was an accurate and reliable drug information resource; PSRs increased their awareness of the promoted drugs; and their prescribing behaviours were influenced by information from PSRs.

Conclusion: Respondents tend to rely on a broad range of drug information resources which include potentially inappropriate resources such as PSRs. Since this study was based on self-report, the influence of drug information resources reported by the respondents on their prescribing behaviour may have been underestimated. Measures should be taken to minimize interactions between PSRs and the respondents.

Keywords: Drug; Nigeria; doctors; influence; information source; pharmaceutical company; prescription; promotion.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pattern of use of drug information sources in a group of doctors in a teaching hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency of use of drug information sources in a group of doctors in a teaching hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mossialos E, Walley T, Mrazek M. Regulating pharmaceuticals in Europe: an overiew. In: Mossialos E, Mrazek M, Walley T, editors. Regulating Pharmaceutical in Europe: striving for efficiency, equity and quality.
    1. Denig P, Haajer-Ruskamp FM, Zijsling Hox DH. How physicians choose drugs. Soc Sci Med. 1988;27(12):1381–6.. - PubMed
    1. Bradley C. Factors which influence the decision whether or not to prescribe: the dilemma facing general practitioners. Br J Gen Pract. 1992;42:454–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schumock GT, Walton SM, Park HY, Nutescu EA, Blackburn JC, Finley JM, Lewis RK. Factors that influence prescribing decisions. Ann Pharmacother. 2004;38:557–62. - PubMed
    1. De Bakker D, Coffie D, Heerdink E, Van Dijk L, Groenewegen P. Determinants of the range of drugs prescribed in general practice: a cross-sectional analysis. BMC Health Serv Res. 2007;7:132. - PMC - PubMed