[The pharmaceutical prescription: a comparison between the old and the new model of primary health care].

The possible influence of the model of primary health care (PHC), the educational background of the physician and the type of contract on pharmaceutical prescription were evaluated. The information was obtained from a sample of 1799 prescriptions, which were representative of the overall prescription of the PHC physicians from the Health Service of Palma de Mallorca. The health center physicians (HC) prescribed less expensive drugs than the classical clinic physicians (CC). The mean prize for HC was 498.98, with SD 418.97, and for CC it was 589.65 with SD 750.25. This difference was significant (p less than 0.0001). There were other significant differences, such as a smaller use of preparations with fixed drug associations (p less than 0.01) and parenteral administration (p less than 0.05) by HC. There were no significant differences in the prescription of cerebral and peripheral vasodilators and drugs for the digestive tract and metabolism considered as doubtful indications.