CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE INTRODUCING A HOSPI TAL DRUG PRESCRIPTION STUDYAT HOSPITAL

The need to know about drug prescribing practices, in order to assess their relevance, has led us to perform a drug prescription study in tw o medical departments of Cardiology at 'Neuro-Cardiologique Hospital' in Lyon (France). In moving from theoretical project design to its pra ctical achievement, important methodological problems, initially unsus pected, were encountered. For each main point of the study (choices re garding medical department, the person holding the inquiry, data colle ction, etc.) and any subsidiary operations (data key-boarding, codific ation and analysis), the main problems encountered are described after considering advantages and limits of potential solutions. We propose useful and relevant questions to be asked, before performing a drug pr escription study, even a modest one, or interpreting the results of su ch a study.