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Second opinions, multiple physician appointments, and overlapping prescriptions in the paediatric population: A systematic literature review
Author(s) -
Biernikiewicz Małgorzata,
Germain Nicola,
Toumi Mondher
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.13365
Subject(s) - medicine , medical prescription , population , emergency department , disease , family medicine , incidence (geometry) , psychiatry , addiction , pediatrics , nursing , physics , environmental health , pathology , optics
Abstract Objectives Doctor shopping, double doctoring, and overlapping prescriptions are often used as synonyms for multiple physician appointments in the same disease episode. Such behaviours translate into poor patient satisfaction and patient‐doctor communication as well as abuse or misuse of drugs, increasing health care costs and resulting in negative health consequences. This systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify factors that drive doctor‐shopping behaviour in children's caregivers. Methods The search was conducted in PubMed and grey literature and was based on the following search terms: included doctor or physician shopping, drug seeking, double doctoring, children, and combinations of those. Overall, 500 records were identified, of which 11 were selected for qualitative synthesis. Data extracted considered definitions of doctor shopping, co‐morbidities, and target population characteristics. Results Definitions of doctor shopping were inconsistent. The frequency of doctor shopping was high for acute illnesses and ranged from 53% in children with a fever in Hong Kong to 18% at an emergency department in Canada. The incidence of this phenomenon was low when taking into account addictive drugs and was rated at 0.02% to 0.3% in the full paediatric population. This phenomenon was more prevalent in children younger than 1 year, in children with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and co‐morbid psychiatric conditions, and in those whose caregivers themselves had psychiatric conditions. It was more frequent in cases with an acute disease (eg, fever, gastroenteritis, and urinary tract infection) than a chronic disease (eg, asthma). Conclusions The knowledge about doctor shopping by children's caregivers is limited, despite that this is a frequent behaviour. There is a need for further research covering a broader range of diseases. The causes and consequences of doctor shopping should be sought as well to investigate its relation to health care regulations and possibility to reduce unnecessary medical resource utilization.