A study of hospital staff attitudes concerning the comparative merits of antibiotics

Abstract

In an attempt to describe and explain doctors’ preferences for antibiotics, a survey was performed in a major university hospital. A questionnaire was filled out by 75.1 per cent (160) of the interns and residents on all the services in the hospital. In addition, every inpatient who received ampicillin during aperiod of 6 weeks was followed so as to compare actual utilization and performance of this antibiotic with the usage reported in the questionnaire. The results illustrate the diversity of motivations involved in the prescribing habits of the physicians surveyed and the serious disagreement between some of the practices and opinions of the house staff and those of infectious disease experts at the same institution.

Analgesics in cancer pain: results of a questionnaire

“…Although the cost of analgesics influenced the prescribing habits of thirteen of our doctors, four of them stated that cost was of secondary importance. Macaraeg, Lasagna and Bianchine (1971) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have recently pointed out that the price of drugs as a determinant in prescribing patterns poses a dilemma for doctors since their training tends to emphasize optimal medical care as the deciding factor. There is a tendency to ignore the cost of drugs particularly in the hospitals situation if it means sacrifice in therapeutic potential.…”

Structured Representation of the Pharmacodynamics Section of the Summary of Product Characteristics for Antibiotics: Application for Automated Extraction and Visualization of Their Antimicrobial Activity Spectra

“…Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is becoming a major problem in health care. Misuse of antibiotics by the physician in terms of molecule choice [1][2][3][4][5] is a frequently cited reason for the increase in the resistance of microorganisms. [6][7][8] To know which types of antibiotics are appropriate to treat the infection of a given patient, the results of antibiograms should be considered.…”