Data and Code for: Does Patient Demand Contribute to the Overuse of Prescription Drugs?

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Carolina Lopez, Brown University; Anja Sautmann, World Bank; Simone Schaner, University of Southern California

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  Lopez_Sautmann_Schaner_2020 01/25/2021 05:56:PM

Project Citation: 

Lopez, Carolina, Sautmann, Anja, and Schaner, Simone. Data and Code for: Does Patient Demand Contribute to the Overuse of Prescription Drugs? Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-12-17. https://doi.org/10.3886/E126722V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary In an experiment in Mali, we test whether patients pressure providers to prescribe medical treatment they do not necessarily need. We varied patients’ information about a discount for antimalarial tablets and measured demand for both tablets and costlier antimalarial injections. We find evidence of patient-driven demand: informing patients about the discount, instead of letting doctors decide to share this information, increased discount use by 35 percent and overall malaria treatment by 10 percent. These marginal patients rarely had malaria, worsening the illness-treatment match. Providers did not use the information advantage to sell injections - their use fell in both information conditions.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources ESRC/DFID (ES/N00583X/1)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms malaria treatment; demand for prescription drugs; healt care overuse; doctor-patient interaction
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      I12 Health Behavior
      I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
      O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Bamako and Kati, Mali
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 5/2016 – 1/2017
Universe:  View help for Universe Patients visiting 60 clinics in Bamako and neighboring Kati.
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) experimental data; survey data

Methodology

Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation Individual patients

Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2021-12-17]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.