Inappropriate prescribing of proton pump inhibitors in primary care.

Batuwitage, Bisanth Thushila; Kingham, Jeremy G C; Morgan, Nia Emma; Bartlett, Ruth Louise · Postgrad Med J · 2007

prospective_cohort · Level II

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Abstract

To determine if an educational intervention initiated in secondary care can influence prescribing of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in the community. A prospective study of PPI use in patients admitted to medical wards in a university hospital. A simple educational intervention was employed to reduce inappropriate prescribing of PPIs in the community. In the pre-intervention analysis 66/271 (24%) patients were receiving treatment with a PPI prescribed in the community. In 36/66 (54%) patients the PPI had been prescribed inappropriately. Six months after the intervention 91/344 (26%) patients were prescribed a PPI in the community. In only 45 of these 91 (49%) patients was there a recommended indication. The intervention used in this study had no effect on the proportion of patients taking a PPI at the time of hospital admission or on the appropriateness of prescribing in the community.

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