[Determining factors of the quality of prescription measured in intrinsic value and its potential use].

Objective: To determine whether the following factors-medical training in family practice, age of the doctor, health care organization and percentage of patients over 65 years--influence the quality of pharmaceutical prescription as measured in terms of its intrinsic value and potential use of the prescription.
Design: Descriptive cross study. SITE. Regional health authorities of Costa de Ponent. Barcelona.
Participants: 400 general practitioners throughout the whole of 1992.
Main Measurements and Results: Doctors belonging to the new health system and specialising in family practise, present higher intrinsic value and potential use of the prescription (statistically confirmed), as well as a greater concentration of prescription of the top 100 prescribed medicines. Doctors no more than 40 years old had better prescription but no statistical differences were found. An aged population had nearly no influence.
Conclusions: The characteristics of the doctor (organization, training) are conditioning factors in the quality of pharmaceutical prescription.