Table 5.
Prescribing patterns of the GPs (n = 8500)
| Demographics of the GPs | Median medicines per encounter (interquartile range) | Percentage of encounters with generic medicines | Percentage of encounters with antibiotics | Percentage of encounters with injections | Percentage of encounters with essential medicines | Percentage of encounters with TCPMs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 2.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 90.9% | 14.9% | 2.0% | 68.0% | 49.8% |
| Female | 2.0 (1.0, 3.0) | 91.6% | 15.3% | 4.7% | 72.0% | 54.1% |
| Z or χ2 | −7.902 | 1.187 | 0.235 | 40.508 | 15.586 | 14.411 |
| P value | 0.000 * | 0.276 | 0.627 | 0.000 * | 0.000 * | 0.000 * |
| Age group | ||||||
| ≤ 35 years old | 2.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 90.7% | 14.0% | 1.9% | 63.4% | 49.7% |
| 36–45 years old | 2.0 (1.0, 3.0) | 91.5% | 15.0% | 4.0% | 72.9% | 53.4% |
| ≥ 46 years old | 2.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 91.6% | 16.8% | 4.8% | 71.2% | 52.8% |
| χ2 | 55.963 | 1.440 | 5.182 | 23.923 | 61.174 | 7.716 |
| P value | 0.000 * | 0.487 | 0.075 | 0.000 * | 0.000 * | 0.021 * |
| Work experience | ||||||
| 5–10 years | 2.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 90.3% | 13.3% | 0.7% | 64.1% | 51.8% |
| 11–20 years | 2.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 90.8% | 16.1% | 4.4% | 71.3% | 52.1% |
| > 20 years | 2.0 (1.0, 2.0) | 92.1% | 14.8% | 3.8% | 71.4% | 52.9% |
| χ2 | 17.443 | 5.631 | 5.488 | 30.037 | 22.204 | 0.721 |
| P value | 0.000 * | 0.060 | 0.064 | 0.000 * | 0.000 * | 0.697 |
Abbreviation: GP General practitioner, TCPM Traditional Chinese patent medicine
*Significant in bold