Background: Over the past few decades, drug and overall healthcare expenditure have risen rapidly in most countries. The present study investigates the attitudes and the factors which influence physician prescribing decisions and practice in Greece and Cyprus.

Our findings confirm the association of self-rated health with economic crisis and certain demographic and socio-economic factors. Given that the economic recession in Greece deepens, immediate and effective actions targeting health inequalities and improvements in health status are deemed necessary.

Our findings suggest that Greek physicians could be persuaded to prescribe generic medicines, if a generic promotion policy was introduced in the country. To develop such a policy, a set of supply side and demand-side measures should be implemented along with provision of information on generics to physicians during their education and clinical practice.

Introduction:Although hypertension constitutes a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, research on adherence to antihypertensive treatment has shown that at least 75% of patients are not adherent because of the combined demographic, organizational, psychological, and disease- and medication-related factors. This study aimed to elicit hypertensive patients’ beliefs on hypertension and antihypertensive treatment, and their role to adherence.Methods:Transcripts from semistructured interviews and focus groups were content analyzed to extract participants’ beliefs about hypertension and antihypertensive treatment, and attitudes toward patient–physician and patient–pharmacist relationships.Results:Hypertension was considered a very serious disease, responsible for stroke and myocardial infarction. Participants expressed concerns regarding the use of medicines and the adverse drug reactions. Previous experience with hypertension, fear of complications, systematic disease management, acceptance of hypertension as a chronic disease, incorporation of the role of the patient and a more personal relationship with the doctor facilitated adherence to the treatment. On the other hand, some patients discontinued treatment when they believed that they had controlled their blood pressure.Conclusion:Cognitive and communication factors affect medication adherence. Results could be used to develop intervention techniques to improve medication adherence.

This elicitation study shed light into GPs' beliefs regarding prescribing. Factors that are not common in the usual European setting were revealed, such as the influence of the patients' family and special situations during prescribing. Thus, various issues were highlighted that should inform the development of items for inclusion in a forthcoming TPB-based questionnaire. The results of this study revealed also certain issues that can affect the design of policies aiming at the rationalization of prescribing.