• Dorte E Jarbøl, Jesper Lykkegaard, Jane M Hansen, Anders Munck, and Peter F Haastrup.
• Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark.
• Fam Pract. 2019 Nov 18; 36 (6): 758-764.

BackgroundPrescribing of proton-pump inhibitors has substantially increased. Information from clinical settings is warranted to gain insight into reasons for prescribing.AimTo investigate Danish General Practitioners' management and reasons for prescribing of proton-pump inhibitors and to identify areas for quality improvement.MethodsAll general practitioners in the Region of Southern Denmark and their staff were invited to participate in a 4-week audit on all contacts with patients prescribed proton-pump inhibitors. For each contact, patient characteristics, treatment duration, dose and causes of treatment, previous gastroscopy, Helicobacter pylori test, and decision about future treatment were recorded.ResultsA total of 51 general practitioners and 47 staff members sampled information about 1101 and 741 patients, respectively. Proton-pump inhibitors had been taken for more than 2 years in 58% of the cases, and 64% of the patients used it daily. Treatment was based on an appropriate reason in three of the four patients, most often due to acid-related symptoms. No gastroscopy had been performed in 46% of the patients, and one of four had had a consultation with the general practitioner regarding proton-pump inhibitor within the last year.ConclusionMost patients treated with proton-pump inhibitors are treated daily, on a long-term basis, and due to symptoms. Few consultations led to alterations in treatment, and only 25% of patients had a consultation regarding proton-pump inhibitor treatment with their general practitioner within the last year. Substantial variability between general practitioners with regard to management was detected.© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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