Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice about Rational Prescribing and Use of Drugs among General Practitioners in Tehran City, Iran

Accuracy and expertise are the essential factors that must be applied by general practitioners (GPs) due to their important role in preventing irrational prescribing. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the rational use of drugs among general practitioners, and affecting factors.
In this descriptive cross-sectional study which was conducted in Tehran City, Iran, the knowledge and attitude of 135 general practitioners in the area of rational prescribing and use of drugs were assessed using a questionnaire and their performance was checked via a checklist. Checklists were carefully completed by trained patients (standard patient) following a doctor's visit.
Findings: 79.3% of general practitioners had good knowledge, and 45.9% of them had positive attitudes toward rational prescribing and use of drugs. 50.4% of physicians also had good performance in the field of rational drug prescribing. Physicians’ performance or practice was significantly different in the two sex groups (P = 0.03, t = 2.1). In addition, it was a significant relationship between physicians’ age (P = 0.006, R = -0.23) and occupational history (P = 0.005, R = -0.16) with knowledge level, and between the geographical area of the office with physicians’ knowledge, attitude, and practice. (P = 0.001, F = 2.4).
It seems that general practitioners in Tehran City have a good knowledge of the rational prescribing and use of drugs, but most of them do not have a positive attitude in this regard and display a modest performance. Therefore, it is necessary to intervene in order to improve the attitudes and performance among general practitioners. It is necessary that some interventions should be done to promote physicians’ attitude and practice in terms of rational use of drugs.