How many medications do doctors in primary care use? An observational study of the DU90% indicator in primary care in England.

摘要: Aim: To apply the DU90% indicator (the number of unique drugs which make up 90% a doctor9s prescribing) to GP practices prescribing in England examine time trends, practice-level variation, and relationships with practice characteristics Method: This is an observational cohort study all general England. It utilises publicly available data from National Health Service (NHS) Digital platform for 2013-2017. The was calculated on annual basis each based medication BNF codes. Descriptive statistics were generated per year trends variation DU90%. Multi-level linear regression used characteristics (relating staff, patients, deprivation area). Results: A total 7,623 included. mean ranged 130.1 133.4 across years, between low (with 1.4 fold difference lowest highest 5% practices). range medications included virtually practices, including atorvastatin, levothyroxine, omeprazole, ramipril, amlodipine, simvastatin aspirin. higher volume associated lower DU90%, while having more proportions patients who are female or aged 65+, GPs working practice, being deprived area Conclusion: typically use 130 different bulk their prescribing. Increasing personal formularies may enhance quality reduce costs.