The broad, long-term objectives of this small grant proposal are to examine prescription drug monitoring programs with respect to physician prescribing patterns and attitudes.
The specific aims for this pilot study are to: 1 ) provide a comprehensive descriptive comparison, analysis, and evaluation of physician prescribing patterns for designated Schedule II controlled substances based on analysis of longitudinal databases for prescription drug monitoring programs in two states, and 2) develop and test a survey instrument to evaluate and compare the relationships between physician attitudes on the pertinent domain associated with Schedule II controlled substances use and prescribing behaviors. The health relatedness of the project is empirical investigation of whether there is a significant relationship between physician attitudes on substance abuse, regulatory scrutiny, (and other attitudinal domains) and their prescribing rates of Schedule II controlled substances. The research design for Phase 1 is a retrospective, comprehensive quantitative analysis of existing data from computerized records related to triplicate prescription drug programs (or equivalent) for the states of Illinois and Michigan, states with prescription drug regulations stemming from different loci of state control. Phase 1 also includes a qualitative evaluation of other variables that might affect the prescribing rates for these drugs. The methods to be used for Phase 1 include comparative statistical analyses on the types and frequencies or triplicate prescriptions, or equivalent, controlling for variables such as physician practice area/specialty and geographic region. Phase 2 of the study involves a cross sectional mail survey of a sample of physicians in the two states. Phase 2 methods include survey development, pilot testing, administration, validation, and evaluation. The most current information collected on prescribing rates for the sample can be confidentially linked with data on physician attitudes to determine their relationships.
