Non-prescription sale of antibiotics and service quality in community pharmacies in Guangzhou, China: A simulated client method

• Published in: PloS one 2020-12, Vol.15 (12), p.e0243555-e0243555
• Main Authors: Kuang, Lishan, Liu, Yizhuo, Wei, Wei, Song, Xueqing, Li, Xiaoqian, Liu, Qiqi, Hong, Weimin, Liu, Qian, Li, Jingwei, Chen, Zhongwei, Fang, Yu, Xia, Sujian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amoxicillin; Amoxicillin - therapeutic use; Anti-Bacterial Agents - economics; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; Biology and Life Sciences; Cephalosporins; Cephalosporins - therapeutic use; China - epidemiology; Commerce; Community Pharmacy Services - economics; Community Pharmacy Services - trends; Customer services; Dispensing; Distribution; Drug stores; Drugstores; Health Services; Herbal medicine; Humans; Infections; Investigations; Licenses; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Nonprescription drugs; People and Places; Pharmacies - economics; Pharmacies - trends; Pharmacists; Pharmacists - economics; Prescription drugs; Public awareness; Quality of service; Respiratory tract; Respiratory tract diseases; Respiratory Tract Infections - drug therapy; Rural areas; Sales; Services; Traditional Chinese medicine
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243555

To measure the situation of the non-prescription sale of antibiotics and the service quality of community pharmacies in Guangzhou, China. A simulated client method was conducted to estimate the non-prescription sale of antibiotics and service quality based on scenarios about adult acute upper respiratory tract infection in 2019. A total of 595 community pharmacies from 11 districts were investigated in Guangzhou, China. We used binary logistic regression to evaluate the factors associated with the non-prescription sale of antibiotics. The proportion of non-prescription dispensing of antibiotics was 63.1% in Guangzhou, China, with a higher incidence of antibiotic dispensing without prescription in outer districts (69.3%). Cephalosporin (44.1%) and Amoxicillin (39.0%) were sold more often than other antibiotics. Chain pharmacies had better performance on the prescription sale of antibiotics and service quality. Traditional Chinese medicine was commonly recommended by pharmacy staff. Since the non-prescription sale of antibiotics is prevalent in Guangzhou, effective solutions should be determined. Strengthened public awareness and regulatory system innovation are needed.