Prescription behaviours of office‐based doctors to standardized common cold patients in Korea

Abstract

PURPOSE: To investigate real pictures of prescription behaviours of office-based doctors in Korea, especially focusing on the prescription of oral antibiotics and injections. METHODS: Prescription information was collected from 18 standardized patients (SPs) with the symptoms of the common cold who visited doctors' office. RESULTS: For these patients antibiotics were prescribed by 96 doctors (64.7%) out of 148 and the rate of antibiotic prescription increased with age of doctors, increasing number of medicines, and cost of medicines. Analgesics were most frequently prescribed (91.8%), and gastrointestinal drugs (81.6%), antitussivies (61.2%), antithistamines (61.2%), decongestants (59.2%), mucolytics (51.0%) and proteolytic enzymes (32.7%) followed. More than half of the doctors intended to give injections to the patients, which was higher among internists and doctors prescribed more medicines. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotics and injections were frequently prescribed for mild common colds in Korea. Action to ensure judicious use of antibiotics and injection is urgent.