Table 2.

Prescribing behavior of physicians

	Which constitutes for you the basic criterion for selecting a drug?
	Greece	Cyprus	Difference	p-value
Proven clinical effectiveness	94.85%	93.26%	1.59%	0.392
Pharmaceutical delivery mode	38.21%	9.84%	28.37%	0.000
Recommended daily dose	35.55%	4.15%	31.40%	0.000
Cost to the patient	41.86%	8.29%	33.57%	0.000
Patient preference	11.05%	0.52%	10.53%	0.000
Other	2.49%	3.63%	-1.14%	0.406
	Which sources do you take into account in justifying your prescription choices?
	Greece	Cyprus	Difference	p-value
Publications in medical journals	73.75%	58.55%	15.20%	0.000
Medical textbooks	60.71%	44.04%	16.67%	0.000
Medical congress announcements	70.27%	69.43%	0.84%	0.813
Pharmaceutical sales representatives	51.99%	61.14%	-9.15%	0.016
Medical libraries and internet data bases	29.49%	28.50%	0.99%	0.757
Others	3.41%	0.52%	2.89%	0.000
	For what reasons do you search further information from the above sources on your prescription choice?
	Greece	Cyprus	Difference	p-value
Dose	43.02%	41.45%	1.57%	0.668
Adverse drug reactions	81.48%	77.20%	4.28%	0.182
Interactions with other substances	67.11%	63.21%	3.90%	0.292
Provision during pregnacy	53.99%	56.48%	-2.49%	0.514
Provision during breast feeding	50.91%	44.56%	6.35%	0.097
Liver-renal disorders	49.25%	55.96%	-6.71%	0.079
Chronic disease	43.44%	21.24%	22.20%	0.000
	How important is the cost of drug in your prescription selection?
	Greece	Cyprus	Difference	p-value
Highly important	15.95%	11.40%	4.55%	0.066
Important	46.59%	51.30%	-4.71%	0.218
Not very important	25.83%	30.05%	-4.22%	0.225
Not at all important	11.63%	7.25%	4.38%	0.035
	To which extend does the existence of patient insurance coverage, influence your selection?
	Greece	Cyprus	Difference	p-value
Very much	20.97%	14.51%	6.46%	0.022
Enough	31.11%	23.32%	7.79%	0.021
Rather influence me	17.89%	26.94%	-9.05%	0.000
Almost not all	17.14%	20.73%	-3.59%	0.239
Not at all	12.90%	14.51%	-1.61%	0.548