Off-label prescribing of stimulant medication to students

A Qualitative Study on the General Practitioner Perspective

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2249784
AutoresSara De Bruyn (0000-0003-0764-9008, Department of Sociology University of Antwerp Antwerp Belgium, autor de correspondencia), Edwin Wouters (0000-0003-2268-3829, Department of Sociology University of Antwerp Antwerp Belgium), K Ponnet (0000-0002-6911-7632, Department of Communication Sciences imec‐mict‐Ghent University Ghent Belgium), Robert Tholen (0000-0002-7245-0970, Department of Sociology University of Antwerp Antwerp Belgium), Caroline Masquillier (0000-0003-1748-5967, Department of Sociology University of Antwerp Antwerp Belgium), Roy Remmen (0000-0002-6509-9561, Department of Primary and Interdisciplinary Care University of Antwerp Antwerp Belgium), Guido Van Hal (0000-0002-4611-4076, Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine Social Epidemiology and Health Policy University of Antwerp Antwerp Belgium)
Año2020
Volumen42
Número7
Páginas1657-1672
Fecha de publicación2020-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9566.13166
PMID32767689
OpenAlexW3048337219
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas34

Students' use of prescription stimulants to enhance study performance is increasingly under the spotlight. Medical guidelines discourage general practitioners (GPs) from prescribing stimulants to students without a diagnosis; yet a considerable proportion of students acquire them from GPs. Building on Eisenberg's theoretical framework on clinical decision-making and Conrad's sociological concept of biomedical enhancement, this study examined the social context of GPs' off-label prescribing decisions for stimulants, using data from 21 semi-structured interviews, including vignettes, undertaken with Flemish GPs. Results identified two groups of GPs: (1) hard-liners who strictly follow medical guidelines and who would only prescribe in case of an appropriate diagnosis and (2) context-dependent GPs who would prescribe stimulants depending on the patients' symptoms and extent of need. GPs' decisions depend on one-on-one doctor-patient interactions (i.e. the extent of empathy from the doctor and the extent of assertiveness from the patient); the extent to which GPs define concentration problems as medical problems; GPs' interactions with fellow health care workers; as well as GPs' interaction with the wider community. By disentangling these influences, this paper advances both theoretical and practical understanding of the sociological context in which GPs' off-label prescribing behaviour occurs

Context (archaeology) · Empathy · Family medicine · Flemish · Global Positioning System · Medical education · Medical prescription · Perspective (graphical) · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Medicine · Nursing · Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare · Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare · Pharmaceutical studies and practices · Psychology