Drug Use Patterns for Malaria Treatment in Ghana
Author Information
Author(s): Dodoo Alexander NO, Fogg Carole, Asiimwe Alex, Nartey Edmund T, Kodua Augustina, Tenkorang Ofori, Ofori-Adjei David
Primary Institution: Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of Ghana Medical School
Hypothesis
How has the change to artemisinin-combination therapy affected drug utilization for malaria treatment in Ghana?
Conclusion
The study found that despite changes in first-line therapy recommendations, actual prescribing practices were influenced by factors such as age and diagnostic confirmation.
Supporting Evidence
- 90.8% of patients received an artemisinin-based compound.
- Only 43.0% received the recommended first-line therapy of ART-AQ.
- Patients aged 5-12 were more likely to receive the first-line therapy compared to younger patients.
Takeaway
Doctors in Ghana are supposed to use a new malaria treatment, but many still use older medicines because of various reasons like age and how they diagnose the illness.
Methodology
A cohort-event monitoring study was conducted in Accra, where patients with uncomplicated malaria were recruited from pharmacies to analyze drug utilization patterns.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to recruitment from facilities with high patient loads and lack of data on drug availability.
Limitations
The study was biased towards government facilities and did not assess the appropriateness of prescriptions based on age and weight.
Participant Demographics
The cohort included 60.6% patients aged 13-59 years, with 59.9% being female.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.001
Confidence Interval
95% CI [2.6–4.9]
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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