| Abstrakt: |
Background Following a change in the policy for malaria treatment in Nigeria, artemisinin-based combination therapies ( ACTs) were adopted in 2005 as first-line therapy instead of chloroquine due to reports of resistance. We assessed the pattern of prescription of antimalarial drugs in a tertiary institution before and after the policy change. Methods The prescription pattern of antimalarials was assessed by systematic random sampling between January 2001 and December 2008, after obtaining ethics permission from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Key findings Of the 4000 prescriptions for antimalarial drugs assessed, 2041 (51.03%) and 1959 (48.98%) prescriptions were utilized before and after the policy change, respectively. The prescriptions consisted of 19 different types of antimalarial drug. Chloroquine (847, 41.58%) was the most frequently prescribed drug before the policy change whereas artemether/lumefantrine (394, 20.11%) was most frequently prescribed after the policy change. There was a significant difference in their pattern of prescription ( P < 0.05). None of the ACTs was prescribed before 2005. Artemisinin derivatives were monotherapeutically prescribed before the policy change, and the proportion increased significantly after the adoption. Also, chloroquine and sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine were widely prescribed before the policy change and dropped afterwards, irrespective of dosage and formulation. Halofantrine, quinidine/quinine and sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine/mefloquine were not prescribed singly after the policy change. Other combinations as recommended by the World Health Organization were not prescribed. Artesunate/mefloquine and artesunate/amodiaquine were the only ACTs that were not prescribed as co-formulated tablets. Conclusion The study showed that there was a shift from monotherapies to ACTs at the study institution following the change in the policy for malarial treatment in 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
Plný text