HOW ESTONIAN AND FINNISH PRIMARY-CARE DOCTORS RATE THEIR NEED FOR COMMON-DRUGS

Objective: To compare ratings of the necessity of drugs in the daily p ractice of experienced primary care doctors in Estonia and Finland to find out the differences and similarities in the therapeutic tradition s of the two different societies. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to all Estonian district doctors born in the 1940s and to all Finnish sp ecialized general practitioners born in the 1940s, who then evaluated the necessity of the listed drugs on a visual analogue scale. The rati ngs, from 0 to 100, were entered into a computer, using a graphic tabl et and a pressure sensitive pointer. Results: The six most highly-eval uated drugs among the Estonian respondents were digoxin, glyceryl trin itrate, aspirin, calcium-channel blockers, beta-adrenoceptor blockers and frusemide; and among the Finnish general practitioners (GPs) were penicillin, insulin, glyceryl trinitrate, beta-adrenoceptor blockers, frusemide and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. The rati ngs of 15 out of 33 drugs/drug groups were very similar both in Estoni a and Finland. The biggest differences between the opinions of the Est onian and Finnish doctors appeared in the ratings regarding the necess ity of antacids, cimetidine, insulin, sulphonylureas, reserpine, ACE i nhibitors, oral contraceptives, penicillin, metronidazole, trimethopri m, indomethacin, phenobarbital and theophylline. Conclusion: The revea led differences are suggested to be related to the different health ca re systems (different task profiles of doctors, different pharmaceutic al services), different education of doctors, different availability o f drugs in the past and different prices, all of which influence thera peutic traditions.