Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026

E-Patient Counseling Trial (E-PACO): Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
Decision making and physician prescribing characteristics: a pilot study of Japanese physicians
Akiko Shibuya1, Masaharu Nakayama, Ryusuke Inoue
1Department of Medical Informatics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
Abstract:
The factors that affect physicians' prescribing remain unclear. Although previous reports suggest that prescription decisions are associated with various clinical situation, most of these studies analyzed simulated patient models rather than actual clinical practice. Here, we retrospectively analyzed actual cases of statin prescription for hyperlipidemia at Tohoku University Hospital between Apr 1, 2004 and Mar 31, 2008. Twelve physicians (6 cardiologists, 3 nephrologist, and 3 diabetologist) made decisions on whether to prescribe statins to 187 patients in 788 visits. As expected, cardiologists started prescribing statins at significantly lower serum total cholesterol levels than other specialists (221.7mg/dL vs. 244.7mg/dL, P<0.05). Interestingly, the total cholesterol levels that triggered prescribing differed significantly among cardiologists (p<0.05). These results suggested that prescription decisions differed not only among specialties but also among individuals.
Related Concept Videos
Impact of Pharmacokinetic–Pharmacodynamic Models: Regulatory Decisions
Effect of Hepatic Disease on Pharmacokinetics: Dose Adjustments Due to Hepatic Impairment
Clinical Trials
There are four phases in a clinical trial. A phase one...
Factors Affecting Drug Response: Overview
Obedience
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...