Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics of the outcome variables were calculated. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study subjects were expressed as numbers and percentages using frequency analysis because they were categorical variables. Chi-square tests were used to determine whether there was a difference among the comparison groups related to the distribution of the dependent variable. We also performed a multiple logistic regression analysis to investigate predictors for prescribing GI medications for the common cold and reported the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
The factors considered were sex, age, physician specialty, region, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) use, and the total number of cold drugs prescribed. C-statistics and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test were used to check the goodness-of-fit of the models. Data analysis was performed using R statistical software (version 4.0.3; R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05