Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32458227›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of clinical pharmacy2020

Compliance to prescribing guidelines among public health care facilities in Namibia; findings and implications.

Qamar Niaz, Brian Godman, Stephen Campbell, Dan Kibuule

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of clinical pharmacy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

30 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Qamar NiazSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.
Brian GodmanDivision of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86, Stockholm, Sweden. Brian.Godman@strath.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6539-6972
Stephen CampbellCentre for Primary Care, Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2328-4136
Dan KibuuleSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6908-2177

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization estimates that over 50% medicines are prescribed inappropriately and the main driver of antimicrobial resistance globally. There have only been a limited number of studies evaluating prescribing patterns against national standard treatment guidelines (STGs) in sub-Saharan African countries including Namibia. This is important given the high prevalence of both infectious and non-infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa alongside limited resources. Objective Our aim was to assess prescribing practices and drivers of compliance to National guidelines among public health care facilities in Namibia to provide future guidance. Setting Three levels of public healthcare in Namibia. Method A mixed method approach including patient exit and prescriber interviews at three levels of health care in Namibia, i.e. hospital, health centre and clinic. Main outcome measures Medicine prescribing indicators, compliance to and attitudes towards National guidelines. Results Of the 1243 prescriptions analysed, 73% complied with the STGs and 69% had an antibiotic. Of the 3759 medicines (i.e. mean of 3.0 ± 1.1) prescribed, 64% were prescribed generically. The vast majority of prescribers were aware of, and had access to, the Namibian STGs (94.6%), with the majority reporting that the guidelines are easy to use and they regularly refer to them. The main drivers of compliance to guidelines were programmatic, that is access to up-to date objective guidelines, support systems for continued education on their use, and ease of referencing. Lack of systems to regulate noncompliance impacted on their use. Conclusion Whilst the findings were encouraging, ongoing concerns included limited prescribing of generic medicines and high use of antibiotics. A prescribing performance management system should be introduced to improve and monitor compliance to prescribing guidelines in public healthcare.

Indexed as

Practice Guidelines as TopicAnti-Bacterial AgentsCross-Sectional StudiesDrugs, GenericGuideline AdherenceHumansInappropriate PrescribingNamibiaPractice Patterns, Physicians'Public HealthSurveys and QuestionnairesAnti-Bacterial AgentsDrugs, GenericComplianceNamibiaPrescribing indicatorsPrescribing patternsQualitative researchStandard treatment guidelines

Identifiers

PMID32458227
PMCPMC7476965

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.