ArticleBMC health services research2014
The impact of China's national essential medicine system on improving rational drug use in primary health care facilities: an empirical study in four provinces.
Article in BMC health services research, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex differences in the awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in China: a systematic review with meta-analyses.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2019Pooled it
- Quality indicators assessing antibiotic use in the outpatient setting: a systematic review followed by an international multidisciplinary consensus procedure.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2018Pooled it
- Does living alone reshape healthcare use? Longitudinal evidence from older adults in China.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Trends in Medicine Supply, Price and Utilisation in Primary Care Facilities in Rural Southwestern China Under National Essential Medicines Policy (2012-2017): Disparities Across Facilities and Medicines.International journal of health policy and management · 2025Article
- Analysis of rational prescription of medicines by village clinics: a repeated cross-sectional study of a province in eastern China.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Short- and long-term impacts of the National Essential Medicines Policy on drug availability, price, and usage in a deprived rural county in southwestern China: an interrupted time series analysis across 8 years.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Improving access to medicines: lessons from 10 years of drug reforms in China, 2009-2020.BMJ global health · 2022Article
- Interventions to optimize the use of antibiotics in China: A scoping review of evidence from humans, animals, and the environment from a One Health perspective.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
- Identifying key influences on antibiotic use in China: a systematic scoping review and narrative synthesis.BMJ open · 2022Article
- WHO/INRUD Core drug use indicators and commonly prescribed medicines: a National Survey from Sri Lanka.BMC pharmacology & toxicology · 2021Article
- Core Prescribing Indicators and the Most Commonly Prescribed Medicines in a Tertiary Health Care Setting in a Developing Country.Advances in pharmacological and pharmaceutical sciences · 2021Article
- Utilization of Intravenous Ribavirin Among Reproductive Age Adults in 2010-2017: A Population-Based Study in the Yinzhou District, Ningbo City of China.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Antibiotics (Macrolides and Lincosamides) Consumption Trends and Patterns in China's Healthcare Institutes. Based on a 3 Year Procurement Records, 2015-2017.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- A Multiview Model for Detecting the Inappropriate Use of Prescription Medication: Machine Learning Approach.JMIR medical informatics · 2020Article
- Patients without records and records without patients: review of patient records in primary care and implications for surveillance of antibiotic prescribing in rural China.BMC health services research · 2020Article
- Health system actors' perspectives of prescribing practices in public health facilities in Eswatini: A Qualitative Study.PloS one · 2020Article
- Towards universal health coverage: achievements and challenges of 10 years of healthcare reform in China.BMJ global health · 2020Review
- Antibiotic Consumption Trends in China: Evidence From Six-Year Surveillance Sales Records in Shandong Province.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Article
- Prescribing patterns of encounters in fourteen general practice clinics in rural Beijing: a cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Evaluation of Need and Distribution of National Essential Medicines List in Village Clinics: A Cross-sectional Study Based on the Perspective of Village Doctors in China.Current medical science · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe National Essential Medicine System (NEMS) is a new policy in China launched in 2009 to improve the appropriate use of medications. This study aims to examine the outcomes of the NEMS objectives in terms of the rational use of medicines in primary health care facilities in China.
methodsA total of 28,651 prescriptions were collected from 146 township health centers in four provinces of China by means of a field survey conducted in 2010-2011. Indicators of rational drug use were extracted and compared using a pre/post design and then evaluated with regard to the World Health Organization (WHO) Standard Guidelines and data from previous research.
resultsThe average number of drugs per prescription decreased from 3.64 to 3.46 (p < 0.01) between 2009 and 2010. Little effect was found for the NEMS on the average number of antibiotics per prescription, but the percentage of prescriptions including antibiotics decreased from 60.26 to 58.48% (p < 0.01). Prescriptions for injections or adrenal corticosteroids also decreased, to 40.31 and 11.16% of all prescriptions, respectively. All these positive issues were also recorded in 2011. However, each of the above values remained higher than WHO standards. The percentage of drugs prescribed from the Essential Drug List increased after the implementation of the NEMS (p < 0.01). Where the available data allowed changes in costs to be assessed, the average expense per prescription increased significantly, from 25.77 to 27.09 yuan (p < 0.01).
conclusionsThe NEMS effectively improved rational medicine use in China. However, polypharmacy and the over-prescription of antibiotics and injections remain common. There is still a large unfinished agenda requiring policy improvements. Treatment guidelines, intensive support supervision, and continuing training for both professionals and consumers are the essential actions that need to be taken.
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