PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - J. G. Hamley
AU  - S. V. Brown
AU  - J. Crooks
AU  - J. D. E. Knox
AU  - J. C. Murdoch
AU  - A. W. Patterson
AU  - 20 Tayside general practitioners
TI  - Prescribing in general practice and the provision of drug information
DP  - 1981 Nov 01
TA  - The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
PG  - 654--660
VI  - 31
IP  - 232
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/31/232/654.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/31/232/654.full
SO  - J R Coll Gen Pract1981 Nov 01; 31
AB  - Duplicate prescriptions were used to monitor patient prescribing and morbidity data for 20 Tayside general practitioners during a two-year study. Each participant took part in two periods of active monitoring separated by a three-month gap. Prescribing statistics collected during the first period of monitoring formed the basis of drug information which was circulated to participants shortly after the start of the second period. Some of this information was purely statistical; other information included comments as well as statistics. Subsequent monitoring assessed any changes in prescribing. The results indicate that drug information of this kind can influence general practitioner prescribing but that there were no differences in response to information which was purely statistical and information which included comments.