Mwita Stanley, Mchau Brigitte, Minja Winfrida, Katabalo Deogratias, Hamasaki Kayo, Marwa Karol
School of Pharmacy, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Department of Pharmacology, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
J Med Access. 2022 May 15;6:27550834221098597. doi: 10.1177/27550834221098597. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.
Globally, one of the most common causes of irrational use of medicines is brand-name prescribing. The consequence of prescribing medicines using brand names is an economic burden on patients and society. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the magnitude of prescribing medicines by brand names in a tertiary hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania.
A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2020 and March 2021 at the Bugando Medical Centre. Data were collected from electronic prescriptions (outpatients) and medical files (inpatients). The data were analyzed using STATA version 14. A Chi-square test was conducted to examine the relationship between different categorical variables. -Values of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Of 851 prescriptions analyzed, 416 (48.9%) contained medicines prescribed using brand names. Compared to outpatient units, the proportion of prescriptions with medicines prescribed by brand names in inpatient units was significantly higher (58.5% vs 39.1%), < 0.001. The most frequently prescribed medicines by brand names were Ampiclox (ampicillin + cloxacillin), 35.2%, Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide), 8.7%, and Amoxyclav (amoxicillin + clavulanic acid), 7.7%.
Prescriptions written with brand names were found to be common, especially among fixed-dose combinations (FDCs), according to the current study. Governments, institutions, and other stakeholders should support and encourage the use of generic names in prescription writing because it saves money for patients and health care systems. This calls for Tanzania's government to prioritize the development and implementation of generic prescribing policies.
在全球范围内，药品不合理使用的最常见原因之一是使用品牌名称开药。使用品牌名称开药的后果是给患者和社会带来经济负担。因此，本研究旨在调查坦桑尼亚姆万扎一家三级医院使用品牌名称开药的程度。
2020年4月至2021年3月在布甘多医疗中心进行了一项回顾性横断面研究。数据从电子处方（门诊患者）和医疗档案（住院患者）中收集。使用STATA 14版对数据进行分析。进行卡方检验以检查不同分类变量之间的关系。P值小于0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
在分析的851份处方中，416份（48.9%）包含使用品牌名称开出的药品。与门诊科室相比，住院科室使用品牌名称开出药品的处方比例显著更高（58.5%对39.1%），P<0.001。最常使用品牌名称开出的药品是安比西林（氨苄西林+氯唑西林），占35.2%，解痉灵（丁溴东莨菪碱），占8.7%，以及安美汀（阿莫西林+克拉维酸），占7.7%。
根据当前研究，发现使用品牌名称开具的处方很常见，尤其是在固定剂量复方制剂（FDCs）中。政府、机构和其他利益相关者应支持并鼓励在处方书写中使用通用名称，因为这能为患者和医疗保健系统节省资金。这就要求坦桑尼亚政府优先制定和实施通用处方政策。
