A study of general practitioners' prescribing behaviour to the elderly in Wallonia, Belgium

The aim of this two-step randomized study carried out in Wallonia, Belgium, was to analyse the behaviour of general practitioners in prescribing drugs to the elderly (>75 years). Consumption of drugs by old people is often claimed to be too high and not always medically necessary but it is also recognized that the elderly are inclined to suffer from several diseases simultaneously. The study sample yielded information on 355 general practitioners, 3,384 patients (9.5 patients per doctor) and 16,117 drugs (4.7 drugs per patient). Overall, drug prescription to the elderly in Wallonia was high... Mehr ...