Background: We investigated the medication-prescribing patterns of primary care physicians in chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Subjects and methods: This cross-sectional study included 3,310 medical doctors who graduated from Jichi Medical University. The study instrument was a self-administered questionnaire to investigate their age group, specialty, workplace, existence of a dialysis center at workplace, and their prescription frequencies (high, moderate, low, very low) of the following agents--calcium (Ca) inhibitors, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin II receptor antagonist (ARBs), statins, anti-platelet agents, erythropoietin (Epo), AST-120, vitamin D, and sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO(3)).
Results: From a total of 933 responses, 547 (61.0 %) medical doctors prescribed medication for CKD. The prescription frequencies of Ca inhibitors, ACEIs, and ARBs were high (>90 %, high + moderate), those of statins, anti-platelet agents, Epo, and AST-120 were moderate (90-50 %, high + moderate), and those of vitamin D and NaHCO(3) were low (<50 %, high + moderate). The primary care physician's specialty was significantly associated with their prescription frequency of Ca inhibitors (p < 0.01). Their workplace was significantly associated with their prescription frequency of ACEIs (p < 0.01), ARBs (p < 0.01), Epo (p < 0.01) and vitamin D (p < 0.01). The existence of a dialysis center at their workplace was significantly associated with their prescription frequency of Epo (p < 0.01), vitamin D (p < 0.01) and NaHCO(3) (p < 0.01). Their age was not associated with their prescription frequency of any agents.
Conclusion: Antihypertensives were highly prescribed, and vitamin D and NaHCO(3) were less prescribed by primary care physicians for CKD. There were certain associations between the prescribing patterns of primary care physicians for CKD and their specialty, workplace and the existence of a dialysis center at their workplace.