چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background:Irrational prescribing of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines in general practice is common in Southern
Europe. Recent findings from a research project funded by the European Commission (FP7), the“OTC SOCIOMED”,
conducted in seven European countries, indicate that physicians in countries in the Mediterranean Europe region
prescribe medicines to a higher degree in comparison to physicians in other participating European countries. In
light of these findings, a feasibility study has been designed to explore the acceptance of a pilot educational
intervention targeting physicians in general practice in various settings in the Mediterranean Europe region.
Methods:This feasibility study utilized an educational intervention was designed using the Theory of Planned
Behaviour (TPB). It took place in geographically-defined primary care areas in Cyprus, France, Greece, Malta, and
Turkey. General Practitioners (GPs) were recruited in each country and randomly assigned into two study groups in
each of the participating countries. The intervention included a one-day intensive training programme, a poster
presentation, and regular visits of trained professionals to the workplaces of participants. Reminder messages and
email messages were, also, sent to participants over a 4-week period. A pre- and post-test evaluation study design
with quantitative and qualitative data was employed. The primary outcome of this feasibility pilot intervention was
to reduce GPs’ intention to provide medicines following the educational intervention, and its secondary outcomes
included a reduction of prescribed medicines following the intervention, as well as an assessment of its practicality
and acceptance by the participating GPs.
Results:Median intention scores in the intervention groups were reduced, following the educational intervention,
in comparison to the control group. Descriptive analysis of related questions indicated a high overall acceptance
and perceived practicality of the intervention programme by GPs, with median scores above 5 on a 7-point
Likert scale.
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* Correspondence:lionis@galinos.med.uoc.gr
1
Clinic of Social and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of
Crete, Voutes, PO BOX 2208, Heraklion P.C. 71003, Greece
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
© 2014 Lionis et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.
Lioniset al. BMC Family Practice2014,15:34
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2296/15/34
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Conclusions:Evidence from this intervention will estimate the parameters required to design a larger study aimed
at assessing the effectiveness of such educational interventions. In addition, it could also help inform health policy
makers and decision makers regarding the management of behavioural changes in the prescribing patterns of
physicians in Mediterranean Europe, particularly in Southern European countries.