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Misunderstandings in prescribing decisions in general practice: Qualitative study

Britten, N; Stevenson, FA; Barry, CA; Barber, N; Bradley, CP; (2000) Misunderstandings in prescribing decisions in general practice: Qualitative study. British Medical Journal , 320 (7233) , Article 484. 10.1136/bmj.320.7233.484. Green open access

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Abstract

Objectives: To identify and describe misunderstandings between patients and doctors associated with prescribing decisions in general practice. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: 20 general practices in the West Midlands and south east England. Participants: 20 general practitioners and 35 consulting patients. Main outcome measures: Misunderstandings between patients and doctors that have potential or actual adverse consequences for taking medicine. Results: 14 categories of misunderstanding were identified relating to patient information unknown to the doctor, doctor information unknown to the patient, conflicting information, disagreement about attribution of side effects, failure of communication about doctor's decision, and relationship factors. All the misunderstandings were associated with lack of patients' participation in the consultation in terms of the voicing of expectations and preferences or the voicing of responses to doctors' decisions and actions. They were all associated with potential or actual adverse outcomes such as non-adherence to treatment. Many were based on inaccurate guesses and assumptions. In particular doctors seemed unaware of the relevance of patients' ideas about medicines for successful prescribing. Conclusions: Patients' participation in the consultation and the adverse consequences of lack of participation are important. The authors are developing an educational intervention that builds on these findings.

Type: Article
Title: Misunderstandings in prescribing decisions in general practice: Qualitative study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.320.7233.484
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.320.7233.484
Language: English
Additional information: © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2000
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy > Practice and Policy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Primary Care and Population Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1367787
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