Objective: To assess the effect of doctor ethnicity and country of qualification on prescribing patterns.
Design: Ecological study.
Setting: 90 Family Health Services Authorities in the U.K.
Results: Being an Asian doctor and qualifying from the Indian subcontinent contributes to 5% of the observed variation seen in the frequency of prescribing, but not the cost. The major determinant of variation in prescribing is deprivation, which accounts for 14% of the cost and 32% of the frequency of prescribing.
Conclusions: Being an Asian doctor and qualifying from the Indian subcontinent contributes to the frequency, but not the cost of prescribing variation. As this study was at the FHSA level, 'ecological fallacy' exists and further research is advocated at the individual doctor level.