Changes in Scottish GPs’ attitudes and knowledge in respect of prescribing costs between 1986 and 1995

This paper investigates changes in Scottish GPs' attitudes towards prescribing costs and knowledge of drug prices between 1986 and 1995. During this time there have been a number of changes in general practice, many of which have highlighted the importance of prescribing costs or tried to improve knowledge of drug prices. The only significant change in attitude demonstrated in this study was a decrease in the percentage of GPs who agreed with the statement when deciding on the best treatment for an individual patient the doctor should normally take cost into account. Analysis of drug price estimates showed an increase in overestimates.