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Prescribing patterns in high-need Health Authority populations: how does an ethnically mixed composition affect
1National Primary Care Research and evelopment Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. mark.hann@manchester.ac.uk
Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics
|December 9, 2004
Summary
Prescribing costs were lower in ethnically diverse populations in England. This difference persisted even after accounting for cardiovascular disease mortality, suggesting potential disparities in healthcare resource allocation.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Pharmaceutical Policy
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Prescribing is a primary intervention in primary care with significant practice variations across England.
- This study focuses on prescribing patterns in ethnically diverse populations within Health Authorities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate broad patterns of prescribing across Health Authorities in England.
- To examine the relationship between ethnic diversity and prescribing indicators.
- To assess if prescribing variations are explained by disease prevalence.
Main Methods:
- Examined associations between prescribing indicators (Prescribing Support Unit Prescribing Toolkit) and 'Needs Profiles'.
- Assessed appropriateness of prescribing patterns by considering disease prevalence variations.
- Analyzed prescribing volume, cost, and net-ingredient-cost for cardiovascular drugs.
Main Results:
- Prescribing volume and cost were generally lower in ethnically diverse Health Authority populations compared to elderly or deprived populations.
- A significant negative association was found between ethnic composition and net-ingredient-cost per patient for cardiovascular drugs.
- This association disappeared after adjusting for coronary heart disease mortality.
Conclusions:
- Prescribing volume and cost were lower in ethnically diverse populations relative to other high-need groups.
- Further research is recommended, especially with individual-level data, to understand these prescribing patterns.
- Potential disparities in healthcare resource allocation warrant further investigation.