Characteristics of general practices that prescribe appropriately for asthma

Abstract

We have previously found that the ratio of prophylactic to bronchodilator prescriptions is a crude indicator of appropriate prescribing for asthma.1 In this study we explored the possible influence of the general practitioner, the practice, and the practice population on this ratio. ### and results Complete data sets were obtained for 150 of the 163 practices in east London for April 1992 to March 1993. Their asthma prescribing patterns have been described elsewhere.1 The 23 predictor variables selected for the analyses are listed in the table; detailed descriptions are available from the authors. The outcome variables were the ratio of prophylactic drugs to bronchodilators prescribed measured as both items and net ingredient cost (logarithm of ratio). Two models were constructed by stepwise multiple linear regression analysis with backward elimination of …