TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of law enforcement on dispensing antibiotics without prescription
T2 - a multi-methods study from Saudi Arabia
AU - Alrasheedy, Alian A.
AU - Alsalloum, Muath A.
AU - Almuqbil, Feras A.
AU - Almuzaini, Muaath A.
AU - Alkhayl, Bandar S. Aba
AU - Albishri, Ahmed S.
AU - Alharbi, Faisal F.
AU - Alharbi, Saleh R.
AU - Alodhayb, Abdullah K.
AU - Alfadl, Abubakr A.
AU - Godman, Brian
AU - Hill, Ruaraidh
AU - Anaam, Mohammed S.
PY - 2019/12/23
Y1 - 2019/12/23
N2 - Background: Dispensing of antibiotics without a prescription (DAwP) has been widely practised among community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia despite being illegal. However, in May 2018, the law and regulations were enforced alongside fines. Consequently, we wanted to evaluate the impact of these changes. Methods: A study was conducted among 116 community pharmacies in two phases. A pre-law enforcement phase between December 2017 and March 2018 and a post-law enforcement phase one year later. Each phase consisted of a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey and a simulated client method (SCM) approach. In the SCM, clients presented with either pharyngitis or urinary tract infections (UTI). In SCM, for each phase, all 116 pharmacies were visited with one of the scenarios. Results: Before the law enforcement, 70.7% of community pharmacists reported that DAwP was common with 96.6% and 87.7% of participating pharmacies dispensed antibiotics without a prescription for pharyngitis and UTI respectively. After the law enforcement, only 12.9% reported that DAwP is still a common practice, with only 12.1% and 5.2% dispensing antibiotics without prescriptions for pharyngitis and UTI respectively. Conclusion: law enforcement was effective. However, there is still further scope for improvement. This could include further educational activities with pharmacists, physicians and the public.
AB - Background: Dispensing of antibiotics without a prescription (DAwP) has been widely practised among community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia despite being illegal. However, in May 2018, the law and regulations were enforced alongside fines. Consequently, we wanted to evaluate the impact of these changes. Methods: A study was conducted among 116 community pharmacies in two phases. A pre-law enforcement phase between December 2017 and March 2018 and a post-law enforcement phase one year later. Each phase consisted of a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey and a simulated client method (SCM) approach. In the SCM, clients presented with either pharyngitis or urinary tract infections (UTI). In SCM, for each phase, all 116 pharmacies were visited with one of the scenarios. Results: Before the law enforcement, 70.7% of community pharmacists reported that DAwP was common with 96.6% and 87.7% of participating pharmacies dispensed antibiotics without a prescription for pharyngitis and UTI respectively. After the law enforcement, only 12.9% reported that DAwP is still a common practice, with only 12.1% and 5.2% dispensing antibiotics without prescriptions for pharyngitis and UTI respectively. Conclusion: law enforcement was effective. However, there is still further scope for improvement. This could include further educational activities with pharmacists, physicians and the public.
KW - dispensing antibiotics
KW - community pharmacy
KW - law enforcement
KW - health policy
KW - Saudi Arabia
UR - https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ierz20
U2 - 10.1080/14787210.2020.1705156
DO - 10.1080/14787210.2020.1705156
M3 - Article
SN - 1478-7210
VL - 18
SP - 87
EP - 97
JO - Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy
JF - Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy
IS - 1
ER -