However, perceptions drive behavior and give insights into the thinking that may influence practice.
Some studies suggest that selection of a medical school may influence practice outcomes [ 17, 18].
Managed care restrictions and penetration may influence practice choices and attitudes of physicians in how they treat patients.
Beliefs and attitudes may influence practice, beliefs and attitudes may be expressed that are consistent with pre-existing practices, or they may mutually reinforce each other.
The consistency of our findings can be questioned as changes in the social environment and the regulations regarding sick-listing may influence practice.
The medical culture surrounding antimicrobial drug prescribing in the United States is influenced by multiple external factors (e.g., peer practices, pharmaceutical detailing, geographic region, and managed care restrictions), and these may influence practice more than knowledge of current guidelines.
These studies found, despite reportedly weak evidence, that interactive techniques that involved feedback, interaction with the educator, longer durations, multiple exposures, multimedia, multiple techniques and reminders may influence practice behaviours.
The theoretical basis for behaviour change (e.g. Theory of Planned Behaviour and PRECEDE framework) is rarely mentioned, and focus mainly on individuals, ignoring how organisational and contextual variables may influence practice.
Also, our findings are specific to physicians practicing in the US and different medical, cultural and economical factors may influence FP practices for physicians who practice in other countries.
Although these findings may suggest that early initiation of RRT is beneficial, the retrospective design of this study does not allow definitive conclusions that may directly influence practice to be drawn.
