Table 4.

Themes of the reasons given by GPs for prescribing of COX-2 inhibitors.

Reason	Number of patients (%) (n = 627)*
GI side-effect from conventional NSAID	192 (30.6%)
Non-GI side-effects of conventional NSAID	12 (1.9%)
COX-2 inhibitor perceived to be more effective	149 (23.8%)
COX-2 inhibitor perceived as being safer	8 (1.3%)
Conventional NSAID not effective	54 (8.6%)
Conventional NSAID not suitable	2 (0.4%)
Patient request for COX-2 inhibitor	7 (1.1%)
Trial of new agent needed	13 (2.1%)
Specialist advice	2 (0.4%)
No reason stated on the audit form	188 (30%)

^*467 (74.5%) patients had previously taken conventional NSAIDs, 149 (23.8%) patients had not taken any NSAID previously and was unknown in 10 (1.7%) cases.