Table 1:
Study characteristics. For Type[s] of prescribing outcome assessed, “prescribing volume” indicates that the measured outcome was the number of prescriptions or claims for the drug[s] of interest; “prescribing costs” indicates the financial cost (eg., Medicare reimbursement) of prescriptions for the drug[s] of interest; “fraction of prescribing for drug of interest” indicates the proportion of prescriptions or claims for the drug[s] of interest within the drug class or within an identified set of substitutable medications; “fraction of prescribing for branded drugs” indicates the proportion of prescriptions or claims for the drug[s] of interest that were for branded versions rather than generics.
| Characteristic | Number of studies (%) |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | |
| 1992 | 1 (2.8) |
| 2016 | 4 (11.1) |
| 2017 | 6 (16.7) |
| 2018 | 9 (25.0) |
| 2019 | 11(30.6) |
| 2020 | 5 (13.9) |
| Route of administration of drugs studied | |
| Oral | 28 (77.8) |
| Subcutaneous | 3 (8.3) |
| Intravitreal | 3 (8.3) |
| Intravenous | 1 (2.8) |
| Intranasal | 1 (2.8) |
| Class of drugs studied | |
| Multiple drugs from different classes | 11 (30.6) |
| Opioids | 7 (19.4) |
| Antineoplastic | 3 (8.3) |
| Anti-VEGF | 3 (8.3) |
| Biologics for inflammatory bowel disease | 1 (2.8) |
| Erectile dysfunction | 1 (2.8) |
| Gabapentinoids | 1 (2.8) |
| Intranasal corticosteroids | 1 (2.8) |
| Multiple sclerosis drugs | 1 (2.8) |
| Alpha blockers and overactive bladder drugs | 1 (2.8) |
| Proton-pump inhibitors | 1 (2.8) |
| Statins | 1 (2.8) |
| Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors | 1 (2.8) |
| Anticoagulant | 1 (2.8) |
| Antipsychotic | 1 (2.8) |
| NMDA receptor antagonist | 1 (2.8) |
| Data source for industry payments | |
| Open Payments | 32 (88.9) |
| Any other source | 4 (11.1) |
| Data source for physician prescribing | |
| Medicare (Public Use File) | 29 (80.6) |
| Medicare (Opioid Supplement) | 2 (5.6) |
| Medicare (Claims) | 2 (5.6) |
| Medicare (Freedom of Information Act request) | 1 (2.8) |
| Hospital inventory | 1 (2.8) |
| French National Health Data System | 1 (2.8) |
| Type[s] of prescribing outcome assessed § | |
| Prescribing volume for the drug of interest | 15 |
| Prescribing costs for the drug of interest | 10 |
| Fraction of prescribing for drug of interest | 8 |
| Fraction of prescribing for branded drugs | 6 |
| Other* | 1 |
| Physician Specialty § | |
| All Physicians†‡ | 22 |
| Cardiology | 2 |
| Gastroenterology | 2 |
| Hematology-Oncology | 5 |
| Nephrology | 2 |
| Neurology | 3 |
| Ophthalmology | 3 |
| Primary Care | 5 |
| Psychiatry | 2 |
| Rheumatology | 2 |
| Urology | 4 |
| Other (Chiropractic, Dentistry, Dermatology, Endocrinology, General Surgery, Optometry, Otolaryngology) | 7 |
| Categories of Industry Payments Assessed § | |
| All general payments | 30 |
| Subsets of general payments | 9 |
| All general and research payments combined | 3 |
| All research payments | 1 |
| Temporal Relationship Evaluated | |
| Yes | 9 (25.0) |
| No | 27 (75.0) |
| Dose-Response Relationship Evaluated | |
| Yes | 25 (69.4) |
| No | 11 (30.6) |
| Geographic region | |
| Entire US | 32 (88.9) |
| US state, municipality, or hospital | 3 (8.3) |
| France | 1 (2.8) |
Outcome was a range of prescribing quality measures.
Two papers included all clinicians (Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, etc.).
One paper included all physicians, except gastroenterologists.
This category sums to >36 because some studies contained multiple categories