Attitudes of primary care physicians towards the use of a drug formulary--preliminary results of a study in Germany.

Although the concept of a drug formulary in primary health care is known for more than 10 years it was only recently that the drug budget of the new German Health Legislation has drawn doctors' attention to the use of such formularies. The loose-leaf form "Göttingen formulary" has been specifically compiled for the need of primary care doctors. It contains less than 300 drugs and drug combinations (including pseudo-placebos). This formulary was ordered by 830 colleagues from November 1992 until the end of May. In June 1993 we sent a semi-structured questionnaire to the users to learn about their experience with and attitude towards the formulary and about changes in their prescribing habits. Until the end of August 223 questionnaires have been returned. Seventy-four % of the respondents were general practitioners with considerable experience (more than 10 years in practice: 77%). The majority were satisfied or very satisfied with the drugs selected for the formulary and found the list helpful or very helpful (68%). Sixty-seven % indicated that the use of the formulary changed their prescribing habits; 70% appreciated an official (governmental) positive list. Although this study did not use a representative sample and the response rate was rather low until the cut-off point, it is noteworthy that the overall appreciation of a drug formulary for primary health care was very positive. The great majority of the respondents were convinced that an individual drug formulary does not render an official positive list superfluous.