Asmamaw Getahun, Ejigu Nahu, Tewihubo Dinksew, Ayenew Wondim
Department of Pharmacy, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia.
Pharmacist, Arabisa Health Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
J Pharm Policy Pract. 2022 Mar 1;15(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s40545-022-00408-0.
Currently, the private healthcare sector's role in healthcare delivery is growing in Ethiopia. However, there are limited studies on private healthcare sector drug use patterns. This study aimed to evaluate the private healthcare sector prescribing practices and adherence to prescription format, using some of the World Health Organization (WHO) core drug use indicators in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A retrospective cross-sectional study design was used to collect quantitative data from prescriptions prescribed and dispensed by private healthcare sectors in the Lemi-Kura sub-city, Addis Ababa. The study was conducted from June to July 2021. The WHO criteria were used to evaluate prescribing and prescription completeness indicators. Prescriptions, kept for the last 1 year that were prescribed between January 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021, by private drug outlets, were analyzed. Simple random and systematic sampling procedures were employed in selecting drug outlets and prescriptions, respectively.
Of a total of 1,200 prescriptions, 2,192 drugs were prescribed and the average number of drugs per prescription was 1.83. Generic names, antibiotics, injections, and drugs on the Ethiopian essential medicines list accounted for 77.4, 63.8, 11.5, and 80.6% of all prescriptions, respectively. Among the patient identifiers, the patient card number (54.3%), weight (2.3%), and diagnoses (31.7%) were less likely to be completed. In terms of the drug-related information, the dosage form (35.5%) was the least likely to be completed. Only 36.6 and 25.8% of prescriptions contained the names and qualifications of the prescribers, respectively. It was difficult to obtain prescription papers with the dispenser identifier.
The study findings indicated prescribing and prescription completeness indicators all considerably deviated from WHO standards and hence unsuitable. This situation could be critical since a similar pattern is reported from public healthcare sectors, which might imply the extent of non-adherence to WHO core drug use standards. Consequently, it could play a considerable role in increasing irrational medicine use in Ethiopia.
目前，在埃塞俄比亚，私营医疗保健部门在医疗服务提供中的作用正在增强。然而，关于私营医疗保健部门药物使用模式的研究有限。本研究旨在利用世界卫生组织（WHO）的一些核心药物使用指标，评估埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴私营医疗保健部门的处方开具做法及对处方格式的遵守情况。
采用回顾性横断面研究设计，从亚的斯亚贝巴莱米 - 库拉次市私营医疗保健部门开具和配发的处方中收集定量数据。研究于2021年6月至7月进行。WHO标准用于评估处方开具和处方完整性指标。对2020年1月1日至2021年1月1日期间私营药店保存的过去1年的处方进行分析。分别采用简单随机抽样和系统抽样程序选择药店和处方。
在总共1200份处方中，共开具了2192种药物，每份处方的平均药物数量为1.83种。通用名、抗生素、注射剂以及埃塞俄比亚基本药物清单上的药物分别占所有处方的77.4%、63.8%、11.5%和80.6%。在患者标识中，患者卡号（54.3%）、体重（2.3%）和诊断（31.7%）不太可能填写完整。在与药物相关的信息方面，剂型（35.5%）最不可能填写完整。只有36.6%和25.8%的处方分别包含开处方者的姓名和资质。很难获得带有配药者标识的处方纸。
研究结果表明，处方开具和处方完整性指标均与WHO标准有很大偏差，因此不合适。这种情况可能很关键，因为公共医疗保健部门也报告了类似模式，这可能意味着不遵守WHO核心药物使用标准的程度。因此，这可能在埃塞俄比亚增加不合理用药方面起到相当大的作用。
