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Ongoing efforts to improve the management of patients with diabetes in Bangladesh and the implications

Haque M, Islam S, Kamal ZM, Akter F, Jahan I, Rahim MSA, et al.

Hosp Pract (1995), 2021 Oct;49(4):266-272.
PMID: 33734004 DOI: 10.1080/21548331.2021.1906083

BACKGROUND: Prevalence rates of patients with diabetes are growing across countries, and Bangladesh is no exception. Associated costs are also increasing, driven by costs associated with the complications of diabetes including hypoglycemia. Long-acting insulin analogues were developed to reduce hypoglycemia as well as improve patient comfort and adherence. However, they have been appreciably more expensive, reducing their affordability and use. Biosimilars offer a way forward. Consequently, there is a need to document current prescribing and dispensing rates for long-acting insulin analogues across Bangladesh, including current prices and differences, as a result of affordability and other issues.
METHODS: Mixed method approach including surveying prescribing practices in hospitals coupled with dispensing practices and prices among community pharmacies and drug stores across Bangladesh. This method was adopted since public hospitals only dispense insulins such as soluble insulins free-of-charge until funds run out and all long-acting insulin analogues have to be purchased from community stores.
RESULTS: There has been growing prescribing and dispensing of long-acting insulins in Bangladesh in recent years, now accounting for over 80% of all insulins dispensed in a minority of stores. This increase has been helped by growing prescribing and dispensing of biosimilar insulin glargine at lower costs than the originator, with this trend likely to continue with envisaged growth in the number of patients. Consequently, Bangladesh can serve as an exemplar to other low- and middle-income countries struggling to fund long-acting insulin analogues for their patients.
CONCLUSIONS: It was encouraging to see continued growth in the prescribing and dispensing of long-acting insulin analogues in Bangladesh via the increasing availability of biosimilars. This is likely to continue benefitting all key stakeholder groups.

Matched MeSH terms: Drug Utilization
Fulltext Antimicrobial drug use in primary healthcare clinics: a retrospective evaluation

Shamsuddin S, Akkawi ME, Zaidi ST, Ming LC, Manan MM

Int J Infect Dis, 2016 Nov;52:16-22.
PMID: 27639454 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2016.09.013

OBJECTIVES: To examine the appropriateness of antibiotics prescribed for acute infection based on the Malaysian national antibiotic guidelines and the defined daily dose (DDD) system of the World Health Organization (WHO). This study also aimed to describe the factors influencing the drug use pattern and to investigate the procurement patterns of antibiotics in the primary healthcare setting.
METHODS: A retrospective cohort follow-up study of randomly selected patients from all patients who received any antibiotic between January and December 2013 was conducted at three primary healthcare clinics in Selangor State of Malaysia. For each patient, the following information was recorded: name of the antibiotic, frequency and dose, and Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) group. The defined daily dose per 1000 inhabitants per day was calculated for each antibiotic. The national antibiotic guidelines were used to assess the appropriateness of each antibiotic prescription.
RESULTS: A total of 735 patients were included in the study. The five most used antibiotics were amoxicillin (1.36g, 35.2%), cloxacillin (0.68g, 26.3%), erythromycin (0.32g, 22.3%), bacampicillin (0.13g, 7.2%), and cephalexin (0.11g, 6.9%). Respiratory tract infections were the most commonly treated infections, and the doctors' preferred antibiotic for the treatment of these infections was amoxicillin. More than 18% of all amoxicillin prescriptions were deemed inappropriate according to the national antibiotic guidelines. In terms of procurement costs, USD 88885 was spent in 2011, USD 219402 in 2012, and USD 233034 in 2013 at the three primary healthcare clinics, an average of USD 180440 per year for the three clinics.
CONCLUSIONS: This study reports the antibiotic usage at three primary healthcare clinics in Klang Province. The most prescribed antibiotic was amoxicillin in capsules (250mg), which was mainly prescribed for respiratory infections. Although the national antibiotic guidelines state that amoxicillin is a preferred drug for acute bacterial rhinosinusitis, this drug is also being prescribed for other disease conditions, such as acute pharyngitis and acute tonsillitis. This result shows that current practice is not following the current antibiotic guidelines, which state that phenoxypenicillin should be the preferred drug.
KEYWORDS: Antibiotic guideline; Defined daily dose; Drug utilization study; Prescribing pattern; Upper respiratory tract infection
Study site: Klinik Kesihatan Anika, Klinik Kesihatan Pandamaran, Klinik Kesihatan Bukit Kuda, Kelang, Selangor, Malaysia

Matched MeSH terms: Drug Utilization
What doctors know about cancer pain management: an exploratory study in Sarawak, Malaysia

Devi BC, Tang TS, Corbex M

J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother, 2006;20(2):15-22.
PMID: 16702132

Effective cancer pain management is influenced by the attitudes and knowledge of treating physicians. A survey was conducted among the total population of government hospital doctors of Sarawak to study the barriers to cancer pain management. Two hundred and fifty-three respondents (83%) completed the survey. The study results highlight that knowledge about cancer pain management was low and barriers to morphine prescription were high. A majority of doctors were deterred from using morphine because of fear of addiction (36.5%) and respiratory depression (53.1%). Only 16.2% of the doctors chose the oral mode of administration to treat pain, furthermore 25% prescribed morphine on "PRN" basis. Doctors with undergraduate study in oncology consistently answered better suggesting that the situation can be improved by education. This study showed that barriers to morphine prescription and knowledge deficit amongst government doctors in Sarawak are strong but similar to those reported in western countries few years ago.

Matched MeSH terms: Drug Utilization
General practitioners' knowledge, attitude and prescribing of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections in Selangor, Malaysia: findings and implications

Hassali MA, Kamil TK, Md Yusof FA, Alrasheedy AA, Yusoff ZM, Saleem F, et al.

Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther, 2015 Apr;13(4):511-20.
PMID: 25704246 DOI: 10.1586/14787210.2015.1012497

BACKGROUND: Antibiotics are widely prescribed especially for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). Their irrational use can increase costs and resistance.
AIM: Assess knowledge, attitude and prescribing of antibiotics for URTIs in Selangor, Malaysia, using a cross-sectional survey among general practitioners (GPs) working in private clinics in 2011.
RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-nine physicians completed the questionnaire (response rate = 34.8%). 49.6% (n = 69) agreed antibiotics are helpful in treating URTIs, with most GPs agreeing antibiotics may reduce URTI duration and complications. The majority of GPs reported they felt patients expected antibiotics, with 36.7% (n = 51) agreeing patients would change doctors if they did not prescribe antibiotics and 21.6% (n = 30) agreeing when requested they prescribe antibiotics even if they believe them to be unnecessary. When assessed against six criteria, most GPs had a moderate level of knowledge of prescribing for URTIs. However, antibiotic prescriptions could be appreciably reduced.
CONCLUSION: Further programs are needed to educate GPs and patients about antibiotics building on current initiatives.
KEYWORDS: Malaysia; antibiotics; education programs; irrational use of medicines; patients; physicians; respiratory tract infections

Matched MeSH terms: Drug Utilization
Fulltext Changes in trends and pattern of strong opioid prescribing in primary care

Zin CS, Chen LC, Knaggs RD

Eur J Pain, 2014 Oct;18(9):1343-51.
PMID: 24756859 DOI: 10.1002/j.1532-2149.2014.496.x

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the prescribing trends of four commonly prescribed strong opioids in primary care and explored utilization in non-cancer and cancer users.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2000 to 2010 using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Prescriptions of buprenorphine, fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone issued to adult patients were included in this study. Opioid prescriptions issued after patients had cancer medical codes were defined as cancer-related use; otherwise, they were considered non-cancer use. Annual number of prescriptions and patients, defined daily dose (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day) and oral morphine equivalent (OMEQ) dose were measured in repeat cross-sectional estimates.
RESULTS: In total, there were 2,672,022 prescriptions (87.8% for non-cancer) of strong opioids for 178,692 users (59.9% female, 83.9% non-cancer, mean age 67.1 ± 17.0 years) during the study period. The mean annual (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day) was higher in the non-cancer group than in the cancer group for all four opioids; morphine (0.73 ± 0.28 vs. 0.12 ± 0.04), fentanyl (0.46 ± 0.29 vs. 0.06 ± 0.24), oxycodone (0.24 ± 0.19 vs. 0.038 ± 0.028) and buprenorphine (0.23 ± 0.15 vs. 0.008 ± 0.006). The highest proportion of patients were prescribed low opioid doses (OMEQ ≤ 50 mg/day) in both non-cancer (50.3%) and cancer (39.9%) groups, followed by the dose ranks of 51-100 mg/day (26.2% vs. 28.7%), 101-200 mg/day (15.1% vs. 19.2%) and >200 mg/day (8.25% vs. 12.1%).
CONCLUSIONS: There has been a huge increase in strong opioid prescribing in the United Kingdom, with the majority of prescriptions for non-cancer pain. Morphine was the most frequently prescribed, but the utilization of oxycodone, buprenorphine and fentanyl increased markedly over time.

Matched MeSH terms: Drug Utilization
Lipid-lowering treatment in hypercholesterolaemic patients: the CEPHEUS Pan-Asian survey

Park JE, Chiang CE, Munawar M, Pham GK, Sukonthasarn A, Aquino AR, et al.

Eur J Prev Cardiol, 2012 Aug;19(4):781-94.
PMID: 21450606 DOI: 10.1177/1741826710397100

BACKGROUND: Treatment of hypercholesterolaemia in Asia is rarely evaluated on a large scale, and data on treatment outcome are scarce. The Pan-Asian CEPHEUS study aimed to assess low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal attainment among patients on lipid-lowering therapy.
METHODS: This survey was conducted in eight Asian countries. Hypercholesterolaemic patients aged ≥18 years who had been on lipid-lowering treatment for ≥3 months (stable medication for ≥6 weeks) were recruited, and lipid concentrations were measured. Demographic and other clinically relevant information were collected, and the cardiovascular risk of each patient was determined. Definitions and criteria set by the updated 2004 National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines were applied.
RESULTS: In this survey, 501 physicians enrolled 8064 patients, of whom 7281 were included in the final analysis. The mean age was 61.0 years, 44.4% were female, and 85.1% were on statin monotherapy. LDL-C goal attainment was reported in 49.1% of patients overall, including 51.2% of primary and 48.7% of secondary prevention patients, and 36.6% of patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia. The LDL-C goal was attained in 75.4% of moderate risk, 55.4% of high risk, and only 34.9% of very high-risk patients. Goal attainment was directly related to age and inversely related to cardiovascular risk and baseline LDL-C.
CONCLUSION: A large proportion of Asian hypercholesterolaemic patients on lipid-lowering drugs are not at recommended LDL-C levels and remain at risk for cardiovascular disease. Given the proven efficacy of lipid-lowering drugs in the reduction of LDL-C, there is room for further optimization of treatments to maximize benefits and improve outcomes.

Matched MeSH terms: Drug Utilization