Prescription pattern of antimalarial drugs in a Nigerian tertiary institution before and after the 2005 policy

• Published in: Journal of pharmaceutical health services research 2014-03, Vol.5 (1), p.75-78
• Main Authors: Aghahowa, Sylvester E., Obianwu, Hope O., Isah, Ambrose O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: artemisinin-based combination therapies; Drug therapy; Malaria; pattern; policy; prescription; Prescriptions
• ISSN: 1759-8885; 1759-8893
• DOI: 10.1111/jphs.12038

Background Following a change in the policy for malaria treatment in Nigeria, artemisinin‐based combination therapies (ACTs) were adopted in 2005 as first‐line therapy instead of chloroquine due to reports of resistance. We assessed the pattern of prescription of antimalarial drugs in a tertiary institution before and after the policy change. Methods The prescription pattern of antimalarials was assessed by systematic random sampling between January 2001 and December 2008, after obtaining ethics permission from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Key findings Of the 4000 prescriptions for antimalarial drugs assessed, 2041 (51.03%) and 1959 (48.98%) prescriptions were utilized before and after the policy change, respectively. The prescriptions consisted of 19 different types of antimalarial drug. Chloroquine (847, 41.58%) was the most frequently prescribed drug before the policy change whereas artemether/lumefantrine (394, 20.11%) was most frequently prescribed after the policy change. There was a significant difference in their pattern of prescription (P