Self‐medication with antibiotics in the Republic of Srpska community pharmacies: pharmacy staff behavior

Marković-Peković, Vanda; Grubiša, Nataša

doi:10.1002/pds.3218

Cited by 38 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…[11] Consequently, this was an observational, cross-sectional study. To determine whether it was possible to obtain an antibiotic without a prescription for the treatment of a self-diagnosed URTI from community pharmacies, pseudo-patients were used.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[11] Since then, a number of activities have taken place to raise awareness of AMR and enhance the prudent use of antibiotics [Table 1]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[11] As a result, we sought to first determine whether, and to what extent, self-medication with antibiotics was still practiced; second, compare the results with 2010,[11] and finally comment on the results and their implications for future initiatives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Initiatives to reduce nonprescription sales and dispensing of antibiotics: Findings and implications

et al. 2017

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Objective:Irrational use of antimicrobials is a major driver of antimicrobial resistance, exacerbated by dispensing antibiotics without a prescription. Our previous study suggested this was a problem in the Republic of Srpska despite legislation. Since then, a number of activities have been initiated. Consequently, the study aimed to ascertain whether these multiple initiatives had reduced this.Methods:Patients visiting all community pharmacies in the Republic from October 2014 to July 2015 presenting with symptoms typical of an acute, viral, and mostly uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infection, with results compared to the previous study. If an antibiotic was suggested, the maximum allowance was €3/pack.Findings:Self-medication with antibiotics significantly decreased from 58% to 18.5% of pharmacies. In both studies, most patients were offered over-the-counter medication. The most common reason for not dispensing an antibiotic was “antibiotics can be dispensed with a prescription only.” The penicillins were the most dispensed antibiotic. Fewer patients than the previous study were given instructions about antibiotic use and no discussion on their side effects.Conclusion:While encouraging that self-medication decreased significantly, 18.5% were disappointing given recent initiatives. Fewer instructions about antibiotics if an antibiotic was dispensed were also disappointing. This suggests the need for even stronger enforcement of the laws as well as further training of pharmacy personnel to ensure the future appropriate use of medicines.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[11] Since then, a number of activities have taken place to raise awareness of AMR and enhance the prudent use of antibiotics [Table 1]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Initiatives to reduce nonprescription sales and dispensing of antibiotics: Findings and implications

et al. 2017

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“…The review from 2011 also reported that approximately 6% of ABs are sold OTC in some countries in southeastern Europe, i.e., Croatia, Slovenia and Slovakia [13], while other studies have suggested that approximately 50% of ABs are sold OTC in this region [2]. This estimate was supported by a study carried out in Bosnia–Herzegovina in 2010, where 58% of the visited pharmacies illegally sold ABs without a prescription [14]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Antibiotic knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of Albanian health care professionals and patients – a qualitative interview study

Kaae

Malaj

Hoxha

2017

J of Pharm Policy and Pract

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BackgroundThe inappropriate use of antimicrobials is a problem worldwide. To target future interventions, a thorough understanding of the reasons behind this current behaviour is needed. Within the EU, the culture of antimicrobial use has been intensely studied, but this is not the case in non-EU southeastern European countries, despite the frequent use of (broad-spectrum) antibiotics (ABs) in this region. The aim of this study was to explore AB knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of health care professionals (HCPs) and patients in one southeastern European country, Albania.MethodsIn total, 16 semi-structured interviews were carried out with four groups of interviewees: physicians, community pharmacists, and patients with and without AB prescriptions. Interviews were used to investigate participants’ recent practices with four specific antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections, along with their typical behaviours, knowledge and attitudes towards the use of antimicrobials. A directed content analysis was applied.ResultsThe patients showed little awareness of the differences between viruses and bacteria; however, they often self-diagnosed, which led them to request ABs from pharmacies without a prescription. Pharmacists felt pressured to give in to patients’ demands. All of the participants (including HCP) showed suboptimal beliefs about illness severity as they all believed that ‘flu complications’, i.e. flu/cold symptoms that persisted after 2–3 days, should be treated with ABs. Physicians usually had no rapid tests to guide them in their practice; however, they were not concerned about this fact. HCPs acknowledged AMR, but only a few of them seemed to consider its risk in their daily practice.ConclusionsPatients had high levels of trust in and desire for ABs, and HCPs did not often negotiate with patients’ demands. Suggested initiatives to improve the prudent use of ABs in Albania include higher reimbursement for prescribed antibiotics (to reduce illegal sales), academic detailing as well as implementing public awareness campaigns.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40545-017-0102-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…It was shown that there is a significant relationship between the issuing of antibiotics without a prescription, and the development of resistance (28).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting inappropriate prescription of antibiotics and the emergence of antibiotic resistance in patients in primary health care

Raspopovic¹,

Janković²,

Opančina³

2016

Medicinski casopis

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Self‐medication with antibiotics in the Republic of Srpska community pharmacies: pharmacy staff behavior

Cited by 38 publications

References 12 publications

Initiatives to reduce nonprescription sales and dispensing of antibiotics: Findings and implications

Initiatives to reduce nonprescription sales and dispensing of antibiotics: Findings and implications

Antibiotic knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of Albanian health care professionals and patients – a qualitative interview study

Factors affecting inappropriate prescription of antibiotics and the emergence of antibiotic resistance in patients in primary health care

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