Asthma prescribing practices of government and private doctors in Malaysia--a nationwide questionnaire survey

A self-answered, anonymously completed questionnaire survey was performed between June 2002 and May 2003 where doctors from government and private sectors in Malaysia were invited to participate by post or during medical meetings. One hundred and sixteen government doctors and 110 private doctors provided satisfactorily completed questionnaires (effective respondent rate: 30.1%). The most preferred medications for 'first-line', 'second-line' and 'third-line' treatment were for government doctors: inhaled short-acting beta2-agonist (SABA) (98%), inhaled corticosteroids (CS) (75%), and leukotriene antagonist (52%); and for private doctors: oral SABA (81%), inhaled CS (68%), and oral CS (58%). The first choice inhaler device for most government and private doctors were metered dose inhalers, with cost and personal preferences (for private doctors), and technical ability (for government doctors) as the key considerations when deciding on the choice of device. This benchmark data on the asthma prescribing practices of a healthcare delivery system fully dichotomized into government and private sector, provides evidence for practice differences affected by the nature of the healthcare system, and might have implications on healthcare systems of other countries that share similarities with that of Malaysia.