Factors associated with off-label prescribing in univariate analysis
| Characteristics | Off-label prescription | ||||
| Yes (n=911) n (%) | No (n=4021) n (%) | Total (n=4932) n (%) | OR (95% CI) | P | |
| Drug | |||||
| Anteriority | <0.01 | ||||
| Renewed | 444 (48.7) | 2177 (54.1) | 2621 (53.2) | Reference | |
| Initiated | 467 (51.3) | 1844 (45.9) | 2311 (46.8) | 1.27 (1.08 to 1.48) | |
| Main goal | <0.01 | ||||
| Specific | 326 (35.8) | 1791 (44.5) | 2117 (42.9) | Reference | |
| Non-specific | 572 (62.8) | 2164 (53.8) | 2736 (55.5) | 1.48 (1.26 to 1.73) | |
| Unspecified | 13 (1.4) | 66 (1.6) | 79 (1.6) | 1.14 (0.58 to 2.07) | |
| Patient/consultation | |||||
| Age (years) | 0.01 | ||||
| 0–14 | 145 (15.9) | 477 (11.9) | 622 (12.6) | 1.44 (1.13 to 1.83) | |
| 15–64 | 381 (41.8) | 1726 (42.9) | 2107 (42.7) | 1.05 (0.88 to 1.24) | |
| 65–100 | 385 (42.3) | 1818 (45.2) | 2203 (44.7) | Reference | |
| Gender | 0.95 | ||||
| Female | 525 (57.6) | 2310 (57.4) | 2835 (57.5) | Reference | |
| Male | 386 (42.4) | 1711 (42.6) | 2097 (42.5) | 1.01 (0.86 to 1.18) | |
| Seniority | 0.20 | ||||
| New | 33 (3.6) | 194 (4.8) | 227 (4.6) | Reference | |
| Known | 878 (96.4) | 3827 (95.2) | 4705 (95.4) | 1.30 (0.88 to 1.98) | |
| Fee exemption status for long-term condition | 0.09 | ||||
| No | 623 (68.4) | 2611 (64.9) | 3234 (65.6) | Reference | |
| Yes | 288 (31.6) | 1410 (35.1) | 1698 (34.4) | 0.86 (0.73 to 1.02) | |
| Fee exemption status for low income | 0.17 | ||||
| No | 864 (94.8) | 3852 (95.8) | 4716 (95.6) | Reference | |
| Yes | 47 (5.2) | 169 (4.2) | 216 (4.4) | 1.30 (0.89 to 1.86) | |
| Socioprofessional category | <0.01 | ||||
| Executive, intellectual profession | 13 (1.4) | 114 (2.8) | 127 (2.6) | Reference | |
| Farmer/craftsman/shopkeeper/business owner/intermediate profession/employee | 193 (21.2) | 916 (22.8) | 1109 (22.5) | 1.73 (0.96 to 3.37) | |
| Worker | 46 (5.0) | 166 (4.1) | 212 (4.3) | 2.11 (1.07 to 4.38) | |
| Pensioner | 402 (44.1) | 1966 (48.9) | 2368 (48.0) | 1.64 (0.92 to 3.17) | |
| Inactive | 257 (28.2) | 859 (21.4) | 116 (22.6) | 2.38 (1.33 to 4.63) | |
| Duration≥10 min | 0.75 | ||||
| Yes | 813 (89.2) | 3619 (90.0) | 4432 (89.9) | Reference | |
| No | 98 (10.8) | 402 (10.0) | 500 (10.1) | 1.04 (0.80 to 1.35) | |
| Number of health problems managed (m [SD]) | 2.9 (2.0) | 3.1 (2.1) | 3.0 (2.1) | 0.97 (0.93 to 1.01) | 0.09 |
| Number of drugs (m [SD]) | 4.9 (3.1) | 4.8 (3.1) | 4.8 (3.1) | 1.02 (0.99 to 1.05) | 0.22 |
| Physician | |||||
| Age (years) | 49.9 (7.7) | 49.7 (8.5) | 49.8 (8.3) | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.02) | 0.61 |
| Gender | 0.66 | ||||
| Male | 596 (65.4) | 2685 (66.8) | 3281 (66.5) | Reference | |
| Female | 315 (34.6) | 1336 (33.2) | 1651 (33.5) | 1.07 (0.79 to 1.44) | |
| Location of practice | 0.15 | ||||
| Urban or semirural | 515 (56.5) | 2435 (60.6) | 2950 (59.8) | Reference | |
| Rural | 396 (43.5) | 1586 (39.4) | 1982 (40.2) | 1.22 (0.93 to 1.61) | |
| Type of practice | 0.29 | ||||
| Solo | 118 (13.0) | 619 (15.4) | 737 (14.9) | Reference | |
| Collective | 793 (87.0) | 3402 (84.6) | 4195 (85.1) | 1.24 (0.83 to 1.87) | |
| Pharmaceutical representatives per week (m [SD]) | 0.80 (1.2) | 0.78 (1.2) | 0.78 (1.2) | 1.03 (0.91 to 1.16) | 0.65 |
| PHIR visits per year (m [SD]) | 2.3 (2.2) | 2.5 (2.1) | 2.5 (2.1) | 0.95 (0.90 to 1.01) | 0.12 |
m, mean; PHIR, public health insurance representatives.