General Practitioners’ Intentions and Prescribing for Asthma: Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Explain Guideline Implementation

Objectives: limited studies have demonstrated that the theoryof planned behavior (tpb) may be able to help in explaining thevariation in physicians’ behavior. we selected the management ofasthma as the tracer topic because asthma had nationally knownclinical guidelines, and the main medicinal therapies used forasthma had limited applications for the treatment of other diseases,and hence, it was possible to trace the relevant prescribing fromroutine data. in this study we used the tpb to explain generalpractitioners (gps) intentions and prescribing in accordance withasthma clinical guidelines.methods: we surveyed a stratified random sample of 122 gpsin england. the gps demographic and prescribing data wereobtained from routine sources. the participants completed a tpbquestionnaire that was developed based on qualitative interviewsand had been tested in a pilot study. regression methods wereutilized for data analysis.results: forty?three percent of variance in prescribing intentionswas explained by direct tpb measures. perceived controls were themain predictors of variation in intentions. tpb belief item variablescontributed to regression analysis that explained up to 34% ofvariation in the efficiency prescribing indicators. effective prescribingindicators were unrelated to tpb variables.conclusions: using tpb was helpful in understanding theprescribing intentions of gps. this could help in promoting theprophylactic usage of inhaler corticosteroids and prevent chronicasthma symptoms and side?effects. however, further empiricaland methodological researches are required.