Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36204526›Full record

ArticleThe journal of medicine access

The magnitude of prescribing medicines by brand names in a tertiary hospital, Mwanza, Tanzania.

Stanley Mwita, Brigitte Mchau, Winfrida Minja, Deogratias Katabalo, Kayo Hamasaki, Karol Marwa

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The journal of medicine access. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

6 authors.

Stanley MwitaSchool of Pharmacy, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0563-6705
Brigitte MchauSchool of Pharmacy, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Winfrida MinjaSchool of Pharmacy, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Deogratias KatabaloSchool of Pharmacy, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Kayo HamasakiSchool of Pharmacy, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Karol MarwaDepartment of Pharmacology, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Globally, one of the most common causes of irrational use of medicines is brand-name prescribing. The consequence of prescribing medicines using brand names is an economic burden on patients and society. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the magnitude of prescribing medicines by brand names in a tertiary hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2020 and March 2021 at the Bugando Medical Centre. Data were collected from electronic prescriptions (outpatients) and medical files (inpatients). The data were analyzed using STATA version 14. A Chi-square test was conducted to examine the relationship between different categorical variables. Results: Of 851 prescriptions analyzed, 416 (48.9%) contained medicines prescribed using brand names. Compared to outpatient units, the proportion of prescriptions with medicines prescribed by brand names in inpatient units was significantly higher (58.5% vs 39.1%), Conclusion: Prescriptions written with brand names were found to be common, especially among fixed-dose combinations (FDCs), according to the current study. Governments, institutions, and other stakeholders should support and encourage the use of generic names in prescription writing because it saves money for patients and health care systems. This calls for Tanzania's government to prioritize the development and implementation of generic prescribing policies.

Indexed as

brand nameBugandogeneric nameMedicinesprescription

Identifiers

PMID36204526
PMCPMC9413497

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.