OBJECTIVES: To describe the type of relationship between primary care family doctors (PCDs) and the pharmaceutical industry (PI) and its representatives in Aragon, to describe doctors' attitudes to this relationship and to find out how doctors behave towards offers from the industry. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study, through a self-filled questionnaire with closed replies, of a representative sample of the population under study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Family doctors working in primary care teams throughout Aragon. RESULTS: The reply rate of 28.17% maintained the study's representativity. Differences in the kind of relationship between PCDs and PI were found in gender (greater relationship of male doctors) and setting (it was greater in urban areas). Doctors working in centres with teaching credentials and woman doctors had a more critical attitude. The tendency to collaborate with the industry's offers was greater in the rural areas and among men. The group of doctors that interacted most with the industry tended to collaborate more with the proposals of the PI. No relationship was found between attitude and conduct of PCDs. CONCLUSIONS: Results confirm both the starting hypotheses: a) the nature of relationships between PCDs and the PI and its representatives affects prescribing behaviour, and b) there are differences between what doctors think they should do and what they really do in their dealings with the PI.
OBJECTIVES: To describe the type of relationship between primary care family doctors (PCDs) and the pharmaceutical industry (PI) and its representatives in Aragon, to describe doctors' attitudes to this relationship and to find out how doctors behave towards offers from the industry. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study, through a self-filled questionnaire with closed replies, of a representative sample of the population under study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Family doctors working in primary care teams throughout Aragon. RESULTS: The reply rate of 28.17% maintained the study's representativity. Differences in the kind of relationship between PCDs and PI were found in gender (greater relationship of male doctors) and setting (it was greater in urban areas). Doctors working in centres with teaching credentials and woman doctors had a more critical attitude. The tendency to collaborate with the industry's offers was greater in the rural areas and among men. The group of doctors that interacted most with the industry tended to collaborate more with the proposals of the PI. No relationship was found between attitude and conduct of PCDs. CONCLUSIONS: Results confirm both the starting hypotheses: a) the nature of relationships between PCDs and the PI and its representatives affects prescribing behaviour, and b) there are differences between what doctors think they should do and what they really do in their dealings with the PI.
Authors: Iria Fernández-Álvarez; Maruxa Zapata-Cachafeiro; Juan Vázquez-Lago; Paula López-Vázquez; María Piñeiro-Lamas; Raquel García Rodríguez; Adolfo Figueiras Journal: PLoS One Date: 2019-08-22 Impact factor: 3.240