Table 1. Unadjusted summary data showing the prevalence of PIPs and estimates of RR with 95% CIs in different subgroups of GP and drug-related characteristics at pre- and post-intervention. The total number of prescriptions pre-intervention was 1 034 033 and in the post-intervention period there were 1 104 391 prescriptions.
GPs, nPIPs prevalence, %Relative riska (95% CI)
Pre-intervention (n = 23 184)Post-intervention (n = 19 754)
Overall group 4492.241.790.80 (0.78 to 0.81)
 Intervention2501.320.990.75 (0.73 to 0.77)
 Control1990.920.800.87 (0.84 to 0.89)
Sex
 Female1390.440.370.83 (0.80 to 0.87)
 Male3101.801.420.79 (0.77 to 0.81)
Practice setting
 Rural2081.010.800.79 (0.77 to 0.81)
 Urban2411.230.990.80 (0.78 to 0.82)
Type of practice
 Single-handed380.250.200.80 (0.75 to 0.84)
 Group practice4111.991.590.80 (0.78 to 0.81)
GP specialist
 No630.200.180.89 (0.84 to 0.95)
 Yes3862.041.610.79 (0.77 to 0.80)
Age group, yearsb
 27–42840.230.220.95 (0.90 to 1.01)
 43–481020.420.320.77 (0.74 to 0.81)
 49–52750.380.290.77 (0.73 to 0.80)
 53–56980.550.440.79 (0.77 to 0.83)
 57–68900.660.510.78 (0.75 to 0.80)
Mean PIPs per 100 prescriptions
1-year pre-interventionb
 0.5–1.6890.240.220.91 (0.86 to 0.96)
 1.7–2.0900.390.330.85 (0.81 to 0.89)
 2.1 –2.3900.490.380.77 (0.74 to 0.80)
 2.4–2.9900.570.440.77 (0.74 to 0.80)
 3.0–6.3900.550.430.77 (0.74 to 0.80)
Prescriptions per patient in 
the 1 year pre-intervention
periodb
 1.9–8.6890.210.200.95 (0.90 to 1.01)
 8.7–10.7900.350.280.79 (0.76 to 0.83)
 10.8–12.8900.440.350.79 (0.76 to 0.83)
 12.9–14.9900.560.440.80 (0.77 to 0.83)
 15.0–32.6900.680.510.76 (0.73 to 0.79)
  • aRelative risk indicates how large the prevalence of PIPs at post-intervention was relative to the prevalence at pre-intervention. Relative risk estimates <1 indicate a reduction of PIPs. bDivided into quintiles by number of GPs. PIP = potentially inappropriate prescription. RR = relative risk.