{"title":"Adherence to antimalarial drug policy among doctors in Delta State, Nigeria: implications for malaria control.","authors":"Irikefe P Obiebi","doi":"10.4314/gmj.v53i2.5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Malaria is a public health problem compounded with a widespread emergence of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum which necessitated the formulation of a new antimalarial drug policy (AMP).</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study was designed to assess adherence to the policy among physicians in health facilities in Delta state, Nigeria.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Cross-sectional, analytic study. Data were collected with a semi-structured questionnaire.</p><p><strong>Setting: </strong>Two secondary and one tertiary health facilities in Delta State, Nigeria.</p><p><strong>Participants: </strong>Physicians selected with a simple random technique from the facilities.</p><p><strong>Main outcome measures: </strong>Prescribing pattern of antimalarial drugs and adherence to WHO treatment guideline among doctors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Majority (90.8%) of respondents believed the antimalarial policy (AMP) should be strictly adhered to, although three-fifth (61.0%) of them rated its performance as poor. The level of adherence to the national antimalarial drug policy was high (78.5%) as most doctors prescribed Arthemeter-Lumefantrine, AL for uncomplicated malaria however barely two-fifth (35.4%) adhered to prescribing injectable Artesunate for complicated malaria. AL, (71.9%) was the most prescribed antimalarial drug for uncomplicated malaria The most prescribed antimalarial drugs for complicated malaria was artesunate (40.0%) followed by quinine (27.6%) and artemether (26.7%); although, chloroquine was also prescribed.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The level of adherence to AMP among doctors was sub-optimal. Continuous education of doctors on the new AMP is needed to achieve malarial control.</p><p><strong>Funding: </strong>No funding was received for this study.</p>","PeriodicalId":94319,"journal":{"name":"Ghana medical journal","volume":"53 2","pages":"109-116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4314/gmj.v53i2.5","citationCount":"10","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ghana medical journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gmj.v53i2.5","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 10
Abstract
Background: Malaria is a public health problem compounded with a widespread emergence of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum which necessitated the formulation of a new antimalarial drug policy (AMP).
Objective: This study was designed to assess adherence to the policy among physicians in health facilities in Delta state, Nigeria.
Design: Cross-sectional, analytic study. Data were collected with a semi-structured questionnaire.
Setting: Two secondary and one tertiary health facilities in Delta State, Nigeria.
Participants: Physicians selected with a simple random technique from the facilities.
Main outcome measures: Prescribing pattern of antimalarial drugs and adherence to WHO treatment guideline among doctors.
Results: Majority (90.8%) of respondents believed the antimalarial policy (AMP) should be strictly adhered to, although three-fifth (61.0%) of them rated its performance as poor. The level of adherence to the national antimalarial drug policy was high (78.5%) as most doctors prescribed Arthemeter-Lumefantrine, AL for uncomplicated malaria however barely two-fifth (35.4%) adhered to prescribing injectable Artesunate for complicated malaria. AL, (71.9%) was the most prescribed antimalarial drug for uncomplicated malaria The most prescribed antimalarial drugs for complicated malaria was artesunate (40.0%) followed by quinine (27.6%) and artemether (26.7%); although, chloroquine was also prescribed.
Conclusion: The level of adherence to AMP among doctors was sub-optimal. Continuous education of doctors on the new AMP is needed to achieve malarial control.
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