Porpora D V
Int J Addict. 1986 Apr-May;21(4-5):559-77. doi: 10.3109/10826088609083541.
The abuse of tranquilizers is recognized as a major health problem. A substantial number of qualitative studies have suggested that the prescribing practices of physicians are at least partly responsible for the problem. Yet there is still a need to test this contention statistically. This paper tests the strength of the relationship over time between physicians' prescriptions of tranquilizers and tranquilizer abuse. Data on physicians' prescriptions are based on projections calculated by the National Disease and Therapeutic Index (NDTI). Data on tranquilizer abuse are based on emergency room episodes reported to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). The correlation between physicians' tranquilizer prescriptions and tranquilizer abuse is found to be .46 (significant at the .05 level), after controlling for serial correlations in the data.
镇静剂的滥用被认为是一个主要的健康问题。大量定性研究表明，医生的开药行为至少在一定程度上导致了这个问题。然而，仍有必要从统计学角度验证这一观点。本文检验了医生开出的镇静剂处方与镇静剂滥用之间随时间变化的关系强度。医生处方数据基于国家疾病与治疗指数（NDTI）计算得出的预测值。镇静剂滥用数据基于向药物滥用预警网络（DAWN）报告的急诊病例。在控制了数据中的序列相关性后，发现医生开出的镇静剂处方与镇静剂滥用之间的相关性为0.46（在0.05水平上显著）。
