TY - JOUR
KW - Administrative Personnel/psychology
KW - Decision Making
KW - Female
KW - Focus Groups
KW - General Practitioners/psychology
KW - Health Care Surveys
KW - Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
KW - Humans
KW - Internship and Residency
KW - Male
KW - Mental Disorders/drug therapy/psychology
KW - Patient Acceptance of Health Care
KW - Physician's Practice Patterns/standards/statistics & numerical data
KW - Physician-Patient Relations
KW - Primary Health Care/manpower/standards
KW - Psychiatry/methods/standards
KW - Psychotropic Drugs/therapeutic use
KW - Social Conditions
KW - Social Media
KW - Sweden
AU - T. M. Hedenrud
AU - S. A. Svensson
AU - S. M. Wallerstedt
A1 - 
AB - BACKGROUND: Psychotropic drug prescribing is problematic and knowledge of factors affecting the initiation and maintenance of such prescribing is incomplete. Such knowledge could provide a basis for the design of interventions to change prescribing patterns for psychotropics. The aim of this study was to explore the views of general practitioners (GPs), GP interns, and heads of primary care units on factors affecting the prescribing of psychotropic drugs in primary care. METHODS: We performed four focus group discussions in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a total of 21 participants (GPs, GP interns, and heads of primary care units). The focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using manifest content analysis. RESULTS: Three different themes emerged from the focus group discussions. The first theme Seeking care for symptoms, reflects the participants' understanding of why patients approach primary care and comprised categories such as knowledge, attitudes, and society and the media. The second theme, Lacking a framework, resources, and treatment alternatives, which reflects the conditions for the physician-patient interaction, comprised categories such as economy and resources, technology, and organizational aspects. The third theme, Restricting or maintaining prescriptions, with the subthemes Individual factors and External influences, reflects the physicians' internal decision making and comprised categories such as emotions, knowledge, and pharmaceutical industry. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate that a variety of factors may affect the prescribing of psychotropic medications in primary care. Many factors were related to characteristics of the patient, the physician or their interaction, rather than the patients' medical needs per se. The results may be useful for interventions to improve psychotropic prescribing in primary care.
BT - BMC family practice
C5 - Education & Workforce
CP - 1
CY - England
DO - 10.1186/1471-2296-14-115
IS - 1
JF - BMC family practice
N2 - BACKGROUND: Psychotropic drug prescribing is problematic and knowledge of factors affecting the initiation and maintenance of such prescribing is incomplete. Such knowledge could provide a basis for the design of interventions to change prescribing patterns for psychotropics. The aim of this study was to explore the views of general practitioners (GPs), GP interns, and heads of primary care units on factors affecting the prescribing of psychotropic drugs in primary care. METHODS: We performed four focus group discussions in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a total of 21 participants (GPs, GP interns, and heads of primary care units). The focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using manifest content analysis. RESULTS: Three different themes emerged from the focus group discussions. The first theme Seeking care for symptoms, reflects the participants' understanding of why patients approach primary care and comprised categories such as knowledge, attitudes, and society and the media. The second theme, Lacking a framework, resources, and treatment alternatives, which reflects the conditions for the physician-patient interaction, comprised categories such as economy and resources, technology, and organizational aspects. The third theme, Restricting or maintaining prescriptions, with the subthemes Individual factors and External influences, reflects the physicians' internal decision making and comprised categories such as emotions, knowledge, and pharmaceutical industry. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate that a variety of factors may affect the prescribing of psychotropic medications in primary care. Many factors were related to characteristics of the patient, the physician or their interaction, rather than the patients' medical needs per se. The results may be useful for interventions to improve psychotropic prescribing in primary care.
PP - England
PY - 2013
SN - 1471-2296; 1471-2296
SP - 115
T1 - Psychiatry is not a science like others - a focus group study on psychotropic prescribing in primary care
T2 - BMC family practice
TI - Psychiatry is not a science like others - a focus group study on psychotropic prescribing in primary care
U1 - Education & Workforce
U2 - 23937398
U3 - 10.1186/1471-2296-14-115
VL - 14
VO - 1471-2296; 1471-2296
Y1 - 2013
ER -