J Korean Acad Fam Med.  1997 Sep;18(9):927-935.

Inappropriate Drug Prescription for the Patients Who Visit Two or More Doctors

• Byeon JJ
• Han TH

Abstract

BACKGROUND: If two or more doctors prescribe for one patient, each doctor must be careful to minimize the number of drugs and the frequency of admistration, and also be careful to avoid duplicating drugs. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the appropriateness of prescription for the patient who visits two or more doctors.
METHODS
In a tertiary hospital, outpatients who received prescriptions simultaneously from two or more doctors were selected, and the number of drugs, the frequency of admistration and duplication of drugs were evaluated.
RESULTS
The number of eligible patients was 887. The number of drugs was 5.2 for patients who visited 2 doctors, and 8.1 for patients who visited 3 doctors. 13% of patients who visited 2 doctors received more than 8 drugs, and 32.6% of patients who visited 3 doctors received more than 10 drugs. The frequency of administration per day was 3.7 for patients who visited 2 doctors, and 5.0 for patients who visited 3 doctors. 12% of patients who visited 2 doctors had to take drug more than 6 times a day and 9.3% of patients who visited 3 doctors had to take drug more than 8 times a day. 9.2% of total patients received duplicated drugs. The duplication of drugs was more frequent among patients who visited 2 doctors than who visited 3 doctors.
CONCLUSIONS
For the patients who visited two or more doctors, the number of drugs and frequency of admistration was inappropriate and duplication of drugs was found, therefore the doctors should make more efforts to avoid inappropriate prescription.

MeSH Terms

Drug Prescriptions*
Humans
Inappropriate Prescribing
Outpatients
Prescriptions
Tertiary Care Centers