Background. There has been growing interest in factors that might influence the prescription of psychotropic drugs in general practice.

Method. This was a multi-centre study using a two-phase stratified sampling strategy in primary care facilities from 14 different countries to determine factors associated with the prescription of psychotropic drugs.

Results. A total of 1763 consecutive GP attenders aged between 16 and 65 years of age were recruited. Although antidepressants were used more for depressive disorders and anxiolytics for patients with anxiety, the differential diagnosis was otherwise not an important factor in prescribing behaviour. Antidepressants and anxiolytics were prescribed twice as frequently in client centred clinics following a ‘personal physician model’ as opposed to non-client centred settings, where care was less personalized. The reverse was true of hypnotics (adjusted odds ratio of 0·5). General practitioners with a positive view of their undergraduate psychiatric training and who had had further postgraduate experience in the speciality were significantly less likely to prescribe medication, and if they did they were more likely to use antidepressants. Older patients were significantly more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medication. Several other patient factors emerged when individual classes of medication were considered; these included the loss of a spouse and the absence of physical ill health in the case of antidepressants, and female sex, fewer years of schooling and unemployment in the case of anxiolytics.

Conclusions. Social, health care and GP factors are at least as important as clinical features in the prescription and choice of psychotropic medication.