Indicadores do uso de medicamentos na atenção primária de saúde: uma revisão sistemática.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the rational use of medicines in the context of primary health care (PHC) according to the indicators recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

METHOD

A systematic review of the literature was performed following PRISMA guidelines to synthesize the evidence produced by the application of drug use indicators in PHC in the period from 2011 to 2016. The following databases were searched: PudMed, SciELO and Google Scholar, Virtual Health Library/BIREME, and , using the keywords "World Health Organization," "indicators," "drug utilization," and "rational use of drugs" in Portuguese and English. Original articles describing studies performed at the PHC level, using at least one of the three sets of indicators (prescription, service-related, or health care) were included.

RESULTS

Of the 16 studies included, 56.2% were prospective, 37.5% were developed at a local level, 62.5% employed convenience sampling, 56.2% lasted up to 6 months, and 43.8% were performed in Brazil. Prescription indicators were used most (87.5%), followed by service-related indicators (37.5%) and health care indicators (31.3%). None of the scenarios described in the articles fully met the WHO recommendations. The most frequent interventions suggested to resolve the problems related to the rational use of medications included continuing education for rational prescription (56.3%), use of updated lists of essential medicines, including generic drug names and reflecting the needs of the population (31.3%), and implementation of clinical protocols to standardize therapeutic management (31.3%).

CONCLUSIONS

Application of the WHO indicators revealed irrational practices of drug use in PHC in several countries.