Evaluation of factors affecting sales of prescription medicines by econometric methods in Iran

Abstract

Background: There are many factors that affect the prescribing of a medication. Among them, promotion of a medication by the pharmaceutical companies, the physicians' knowledge base, and pricing are the most important. The objective of this study was to demonstrate how these parameters affect the prescribing behavior and determine their affects on the prescription process. Methods: In order to investigate the effect of price, advertisement, and the physician gender and age on the sales and prescribing process of three medicines, namely fluvoxamine, clopidrogrel and latanoprosta the pooling data method in econometrics (Panel data) was used. Results: We found that advertisement and medical insurance coverage for the medication had a significant positive effect on prescription of all three medicines. At the same time, a negative relationship was seen between increasing price and the frequency of prescription of a medicine. The gender and age of the physician also affected the behavior of prescribing. Moreover, we found out that advertisement has a direct effect on raising the demand and prescription of all the medicines. Conclusions: Health policy makers as well as pharmaceutical companies should consider the impact of advertisement and also the age and gender of the prescriber on the prescribing frequency of a particular medicine. Copyright é 2013 by Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.