TITLE:
Assessing Drug Use Indicators in Health Insurance Facilities, Gezira State, Sudan, 2017-2018
AUTHORS:
Sara Abdelrahman Ahmed, Elnazeer Ibrahim Hamedelniel, Abubakr Khidir Yousif
KEYWORDS:
Assessing, Drug Use Indicators, National Health Insurance Fund, Gezira, Sudan
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.12 No.10,
October
26,
2021
ABSTRACT: Background: Inappropriate use of medicines is a global concern with serious consequences related to prescribing, dispensing, and
use. WHO estimated that 50% of medicines are not used correctly on their
journey from the facility to home. Objective: To assess medicines use
using WHO drug core indicators regarding
prescribing, patient, and facilities. Setting: Outpatients, Health
centers in Wadmadani locality (Urban area) in Gezira State, Sudan. Method:
A cross-sectional, prospective, analytical study was conducted in 30 health centers
and 60 patients from each center were selected using a simple random sampling
technique. WHO indicators form was used to collect data containing different
variables. T-test at a level of confidence of 95% was used to test differences
between indicators. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for
data analysis. Results: The main prescribing indicators were 2.5 ± 0.6
for drugs per encounter, 44.1% ± 14.2%. Generic 54 ± 18.0 antibiotics, 12.0% ±
9.3% injectable, and 95.2% ± 11.5% of drugs were prescribed according to the
NHIF-EML. The main patient’s indicators were, 2.9 ± 0.8 minutes for consultation
time, 99.5 ± 36.8 seconds for dispensing time, and 72.5% ± 16.0% for medicines
actually dispensed, 49.0% ± 18.0% for medicines adequately labeled, and 22.5% ±
7.3% of the patient’s knowledge about the correct dose. The Facility specific
indicators were 66.7% for the availability of a copy of EML, while the
percentage of key drugs in the stock was 75.3% ± 11.6%. No statistically
significant differences were found between direct and indirect facilities
except in generic prescribing. Main Outcome Measure: • Interventions to
improve Generic and antibiotics prescribing indicators. • The patient-to-physician
ratio should be revised to optimize consultation time. • The availability of
key drugs should be improved to make sure effective treatment. • The pharmacy
cadre should be oriented and trained to improve patients’ compliance. Conclusion:
The study concluded that there was irrational use of medicines when
investigated by WHO drug core indicators. So, the study recommended
interventions to improve the rationale prescribing, dispensing, and use of
medicines.