Patient Knowledge and Antibiotic Abuse: Evidence from an Audit Study in China / Janet Currie, Wanchuan Lin, Wei Zhang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Currie, Janet.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Lin, Wanchuan.

Zhang, Wei.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w16602.

NBER working paper series no. w16602

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Patient Knowledge and Antibiotic Abuse

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2010.

Summary:

We ask how patient knowledge of appropriate antibiotic usage affects both physicians prescribing behavior and the physician-patient relationship. We conduct an audit study in which a pair of simulated patients with identical flu-like complaints visits the same physician. Simulated patient A is instructed to ask a question that showcases his/her knowledge of appropriate antibiotic use, whereas patient B is instructed to say nothing beyond describing his/her symptoms. We find that a patient's knowledge of appropriate antibiotics use reduces both antibiotic prescription rates and drug expenditures. Such knowledge also increases physicians' information provision about possible side effects, but has a negative impact on the quality of the physician-patient interactions.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2010.