Factors influencing GI medication prescription
Table 2 shows the results of the logistic regression analysis. Women
were more likely than men to be prescribed unnecessary GI medications
(OR=1.314, 95% CI=1.144-1.508). Physician specialties influenced
unnecessary prescription of GI medication; paediatricians were the least
likely to prescribe unnecessary GI medications (OR=0.479, 95%
CI=0.307-0.732), whereas surgeons were most associated with unnecessary
GI medication prescription (OR=1.655, 95% CI=1.171-2.345).
Geographic variations were observed across regions. People in urban
areas had 1.74-fold greater odds of being prescribed unnecessary GI
medications than those in metropolitan areas. A similar pattern was
observed in rural areas, but with slightly lower odds (OR=1.191, 95%
CI=1.016-1.396). The use of NSAIDs was directly related to the
unnecessary prescription of GI medications. When study subjects were
prescribed NSAIDs as cold medicine, the probability of unnecessary GI
drugs being prescribed was approximately two times higher than that of
those who were not prescribed NSAIDs (OR=1.903, 95% CI=1.648-2.199).
Patients who were prescribed 3 and ≥ 4 cold medicines were less likely
to also be prescribed GI drugs, and the ORs were 0.568 (95%
CI=0.440-0.731) and 0.471 (95% CI=0.360-0.616), respectively.