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How prone are Swedish general practitioners to perform medication reconciliation? A theory-based survey study

Thelin, Sarah LU orcid ; Modig, Sara LU orcid and Milos Nymberg, Veronica LU orcid (2025) In Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety 16.
Abstract

Background: Drug-related problems are common in older individuals. A medication reconciliation has the goal of identifying and maintaining an accurate medication list and can serve to prevent drug-related problems caused by discrepancies. Objectives: This study aimed to explore primary care physicians’ intentions towards performing medication reconciliation in patients with multimorbidity using a theory-based questionnaire. Design: A survey study was conducted from February to March 2024. Methods: An anonymous web-based questionnaire was developed, validated and distributed to 674 primary care physicians in southern Sweden. The questionnaire targeted attitudes, perceived norms, perceived behavioural control and generalised intentions... (More)

Background: Drug-related problems are common in older individuals. A medication reconciliation has the goal of identifying and maintaining an accurate medication list and can serve to prevent drug-related problems caused by discrepancies. Objectives: This study aimed to explore primary care physicians’ intentions towards performing medication reconciliation in patients with multimorbidity using a theory-based questionnaire. Design: A survey study was conducted from February to March 2024. Methods: An anonymous web-based questionnaire was developed, validated and distributed to 674 primary care physicians in southern Sweden. The questionnaire targeted attitudes, perceived norms, perceived behavioural control and generalised intentions towards performing a medication reconciliation, constructs derived from the theory of planned behaviour and the reasoned action approach theory. Outcome measures were overall scores for predictors, and the correlation between predictors and intentions towards performing a medication reconciliation was analysed using a multiple linear regression model. Results: With 206 surveys answered, the response rate was 31%. We found items targeting attitudes to have the highest overall mean score on a seven-point Likert scale (6.42), followed by generalised intention (6.17), subjective norms (5.45) and perceived behavioural control (5.15). Women had significantly higher scores for attitudes (p-value 0.001), subjective norms (p-value 0.050) and generalised intention (p-value 0.001). Groups with more than 10 years of work experience had significantly higher overall mean scores for perceived behavioural control (p-value 0.043). The correlation between predictors and generalised intention found attitudes and perceived behavioural control to be significant predictors of intentions to perform medication reconciliation in multimorbid older individuals (p-value < 0.001). Conclusion: We found attitudes and perceived behavioural control to be significant predictors of primary care physicians’ intention to perform a medication reconciliation in patients with multimorbidity. These findings provide important insights into how future interventions targeting behavioural predictors can be developed.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
adverse drug events, drug-related problems, medication reconciliation, physician, primary care, the theory of planned behaviour
in
Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety
volume
16
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • pmid:40735057
  • scopus:105014635765
ISSN
2042-0986
DOI
10.1177/20420986251360916
project
Preventing drug-related problems – various stakeholders’ contributions to enhanced medication safety
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c8fe776f-456b-4cca-8f22-d7a62ec745e2
date added to LUP
2025-11-10 15:14:47
date last changed
2025-11-11 03:05:48
@article{c8fe776f-456b-4cca-8f22-d7a62ec745e2,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Drug-related problems are common in older individuals. A medication reconciliation has the goal of identifying and maintaining an accurate medication list and can serve to prevent drug-related problems caused by discrepancies. Objectives: This study aimed to explore primary care physicians’ intentions towards performing medication reconciliation in patients with multimorbidity using a theory-based questionnaire. Design: A survey study was conducted from February to March 2024. Methods: An anonymous web-based questionnaire was developed, validated and distributed to 674 primary care physicians in southern Sweden. The questionnaire targeted attitudes, perceived norms, perceived behavioural control and generalised intentions towards performing a medication reconciliation, constructs derived from the theory of planned behaviour and the reasoned action approach theory. Outcome measures were overall scores for predictors, and the correlation between predictors and intentions towards performing a medication reconciliation was analysed using a multiple linear regression model. Results: With 206 surveys answered, the response rate was 31%. We found items targeting attitudes to have the highest overall mean score on a seven-point Likert scale (6.42), followed by generalised intention (6.17), subjective norms (5.45) and perceived behavioural control (5.15). Women had significantly higher scores for attitudes (p-value 0.001), subjective norms (p-value 0.050) and generalised intention (p-value 0.001). Groups with more than 10 years of work experience had significantly higher overall mean scores for perceived behavioural control (p-value 0.043). The correlation between predictors and generalised intention found attitudes and perceived behavioural control to be significant predictors of intentions to perform medication reconciliation in multimorbid older individuals (p-value &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: We found attitudes and perceived behavioural control to be significant predictors of primary care physicians’ intention to perform a medication reconciliation in patients with multimorbidity. These findings provide important insights into how future interventions targeting behavioural predictors can be developed.</p>}},
  author       = {{Thelin, Sarah and Modig, Sara and Milos Nymberg, Veronica}},
  issn         = {{2042-0986}},
  keywords     = {{adverse drug events; drug-related problems; medication reconciliation; physician; primary care; the theory of planned behaviour}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety}},
  title        = {{How prone are Swedish general practitioners to perform medication reconciliation? A theory-based survey study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20420986251360916}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/20420986251360916}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}