Do Indonesian community pharmacy workers respond to antibiotics requests appropriately?

Abstract

Summaryobjective To quantify antibiotics sales without a prescription and to explore provision of patient assessment and medicine information related to antibiotics requested with or without a prescription in Surabaya community pharmacies.methods Scenarios of specific product requests (ciprofloxacin tablets and tetracycline capsules) and a request of amoxicillin dry syrups based on a new prescription were presented by simulated patients to 105 purposively selected pharmacies. Data were recorded by simulated patients after their purchase of each product. They documented the questions asked in patient assessment, the content of information given, recommendations provided and pharmacy workers' characteristics.results Antibiotics requested without a prescription were sold in 80 (91%) pharmacies. Information related to ciprofloxacin tablets and tetracycline capsules was only provided when requested by the simulated patient in 69% and 68% of pharmacies for the two scenarios, respectively. Very few pharmacies assessed patients. Medicine information on indication, dosing, duration and direction for use was provided more frequently in all cases. Medicine information was more likely to be given when a new prescription of amoxicillin dry syrups being presented. Overall, the majority of sampled pharmacies responded antibiotics requests inappropriately.conclusion Inappropriate responses to antibiotic requests with or without a prescription remain an issue in Indonesia with pharmacy workers often failing to adequately assess patients. The illegality of delivering antibiotics without a prescription is of a considerable concern. Therefore, strategies to control antibiotics dispensing in community pharmacies should be seriously considered.

Involvement Of Community Pharmacists In Public Health Priorities: A Multi-Center Descriptive Survey In Ethiopia

“…In the present survey, lack of knowledge or clinical skills was the most commonly reported barrier to the provision of public health service in community pharmacy followed by lack of access to additional training programs and lack of personnel or resources. Similar barriers have also been documented in different parts of the globe including lack of time and personnel, lack of clinical skills and tools [7][8][9][10]. Public's lack of awareness of community pharmacy professional's role in public health and uncooperative patients were other important barriers identified in the literature but had not been prominent in our study [26,27].…”

“…Lack of knowledge and skills, lack of confidence and adequate training, lack of policies, poor recognition within the healthcare system, patients' reluctance to use pharmacy services and presence of inadequate number of pharmacy staff are some of the factors which can contribute to the low level of pharmacy services uptake and public health initiatives [7][8][9][10][11]. In developed countries, such as the United Kingdom, pharmacists are well integrated into public-health programs [12].…”

Injudicious Provision of Subtherapeutic Doses of Antibiotics in Community Pharmacies

“…Getting antibiotics directly from the pharmacy without a prescription is possible in Africa, South America, Asia as well as in many parts of Europe even when this practice is illegal [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Previous research indicates that antibiotics are readily dispensed for urinary tract infections, sore throat, bronchitis and diarrhea. Many of these studies have addressed dispensing antibiotics without a prescription in therapeutic doses.…”

Evaluation of rational antibiotic dispensing in the community pharmacy setting: a simulated patient study

“…5 However, in many simulated patient studies, it has been observed that antibiotics which were suggested without prescription were common in cases with acute uncomplicated rhinosinusitis or other acute infections. [5][6][7][8] According to the report by the Turkish Ministry of Health based on records of Prescription Information System in 2011 and 2012, it was determined that the rate of prescribing antibiotics by general practitioners were approximately 35.0% and 34.0%, respectively. 9 The elevated utilization of antibiotics is not unique to Turkey and other developing countries; it is also common in Europe.…”