Physicians' knowledge of cost of drugs

ABSTRACT

To assess physicians' knowledge of cost of commonly used medications. A cross-sectional study done in May 2012 on twenty six [26] physicians [11 Consultants working in Medical units of the three tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar and 15 General Practitioners working in Peshawar city and Cantonment area]. They were asked about the cost of 10 commonly prescribed drugs. Estimates within 25% of the actual costs were considered accurate. Out of 260 responses, 105 [40.4%] responses of the physicians came up with accurate estimates. No significant difference was found between the responses of GPs and the Consultants [64/150 vs. 41/110[p > 0.05]]. Overall, costs of expensive drugs were more accurately estimated than the inexpensive ones [48/104 vs. 57/156 [p < 0.05]]. Physicians consistently overestimated the costs of inexpensive drugs and underestimated the costs of expensive ones [p < 0.05]. Physicians have inadequate knowledge of cost of drugs which may lead to poor medication compliance