Antibiotic prescribing by single handed general practitioners: secondary analysis of data

AIM: To determine the contribution of various doctor and patient factors on the frequency of antibiotic prescribing. METHODS: Secondary analyses of data on 155 single handed general practitioners. RESULTS: Three variables explained 25% of variation in antibiotic prescribing. Doctors qualified from the Indian subcontinent issued more antibiotics than U.K.-qualified doctors. Patients from the non-manual social class were issued fewer antibiotics than those from the manual class and the most deprived patients received significantly more antibiotics. CONCLUSION: Very little of prescribing of antibiotics by doctors is explained by these doctor-patient factors. Prescribing is a complex process and the search for factors must continue in order to address the rising antibiotic resistance.