[Good dispensing practices for antibiotics in community pharmacies of the province of Córdoba (Argentina)].

Abstract

Objective: To develop a Good Dispensing Practices (GDP) Program for antibiotics (ATB) of greater demand in community pharmacies in the province of Córdoba (Argentina), to help reduce the antibiotic resistance (AR) and improve patients' knowledge about the need for prescription and proper use.

Methods: A standard operating procedure (SOP) was designed on GDP for ATB. Subsequently, a training program for community pharmacists was designed and implemented through a virtual platform. At the end, the pharmacists registered the requests for ATB with the highest demand and carried out the corresponding interventions. Patient adherence and satisfaction with the service provided were analysed using validated tests.

Results: A SOP on GDP for ATB was developed and validated. Subsequently, 278 pharmacists were trained, of which 208 joined the project. 2217 records of ATB requests were obtained, 68.1% corresponding to requests with prescription. The percentage of adherence to treatment was 57.3% and an average of 4.2 ± 0.7 was obtained in patient satisfaction (on a scale of 1 to 5).

Conclusions: It is necessary to implement this SOP on a large scale for patient care, encouraging the role of the pharmacist to provide adequate information and improve adherence, with the aim of transforming the global threat of AR and maintaining the efficacy of current treatments.