A National Survey of Dispensing Practice and Customer Knowledge on Antibiotic Use in Vietnam and the Implications
Misconceptions and pressures have increased the sales of antibiotics without a prescription across countries. There are concerns with such practices in Vietnam given rising antimicrobial resistance rates. A national survey was conducted among 360 private drugstores located in nine provinces in Vietn...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Antibiotics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/8/1091 |
| _version_ | 1797439933736026112 |
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| author | Thuy Thi Phuong Nguyen Thang Xuan Do Hoang Anh Nguyen Cuc Thi Thu Nguyen Johanna Catharina Meyer Brian Godman Phumzile Skosana Binh Thanh Nguyen |
| author_facet | Thuy Thi Phuong Nguyen Thang Xuan Do Hoang Anh Nguyen Cuc Thi Thu Nguyen Johanna Catharina Meyer Brian Godman Phumzile Skosana Binh Thanh Nguyen |
| author_sort | Thuy Thi Phuong Nguyen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Misconceptions and pressures have increased the sales of antibiotics without a prescription across countries. There are concerns with such practices in Vietnam given rising antimicrobial resistance rates. A national survey was conducted among 360 private drugstores located in nine provinces in Vietnam. Anonymous interviews were conducted with participants selected by convenience sampling. Subsequently, multivariable logistic regression analyses were undertaken evaluating the relationship between customer characteristics and antibiotic purchases. A total of 480 out of 1626 surveyed participants purchased antibiotics, 81.7% of which did not have a prescription, involving 29 different antibiotics. In 86.4% of these, participants were prescribed antibiotics by drug sellers. Most antibiotics were sold to treat respiratory tract infections (61.4%), with the ‘Access’ antibiotics (amoxicillin and cephalexin) being the most frequently sold. Only one-fifth of participants understood that they were breaking the law by purchasing antibiotics without a prescription. Participants purchasing antibiotics without a prescription had lower awareness concerning antibiotic laws and treatment duration (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Under 50% agreed to having a doctors’ prescription in the future when purchasing antibiotics. Freelancer occupation (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.83–0.96) and a lower educational level (OR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.25–0.96) were factors related to purchasing antibiotics without a prescription. Overall, we recommend increasing fines and monitoring of drugs stores, greater promotion of the family doctor system as well as increasing media and educational campaigns to limit self-purchasing of antibiotics in Vietnam and reduce resistance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:59:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b2d5072d5e974ed8bd2185da4b7876c2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6382 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:59:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antibiotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-b2d5072d5e974ed8bd2185da4b7876c22023-11-30T23:05:02ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822022-08-01118109110.3390/antibiotics11081091A National Survey of Dispensing Practice and Customer Knowledge on Antibiotic Use in Vietnam and the ImplicationsThuy Thi Phuong Nguyen0Thang Xuan Do1Hoang Anh Nguyen2Cuc Thi Thu Nguyen3Johanna Catharina Meyer4Brian Godman5Phumzile Skosana6Binh Thanh Nguyen7Department of Pharmaceutical Management and Economics, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Hanoi City 10000, VietnamDepartment of Pharmaceutical Management and Economics, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Hanoi City 10000, VietnamThe National Center of Drug Information & Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Hanoi City, 10000, VietnamDepartment of Pharmaceutical Management and Economics, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Hanoi City 10000, VietnamDepartment of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria 0204, South AfricaDepartment of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria 0204, South AfricaDepartment of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria 0204, South AfricaDepartment of Pharmaceutical Management and Economics, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Hanoi City 10000, VietnamMisconceptions and pressures have increased the sales of antibiotics without a prescription across countries. There are concerns with such practices in Vietnam given rising antimicrobial resistance rates. A national survey was conducted among 360 private drugstores located in nine provinces in Vietnam. Anonymous interviews were conducted with participants selected by convenience sampling. Subsequently, multivariable logistic regression analyses were undertaken evaluating the relationship between customer characteristics and antibiotic purchases. A total of 480 out of 1626 surveyed participants purchased antibiotics, 81.7% of which did not have a prescription, involving 29 different antibiotics. In 86.4% of these, participants were prescribed antibiotics by drug sellers. Most antibiotics were sold to treat respiratory tract infections (61.4%), with the ‘Access’ antibiotics (amoxicillin and cephalexin) being the most frequently sold. Only one-fifth of participants understood that they were breaking the law by purchasing antibiotics without a prescription. Participants purchasing antibiotics without a prescription had lower awareness concerning antibiotic laws and treatment duration (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Under 50% agreed to having a doctors’ prescription in the future when purchasing antibiotics. Freelancer occupation (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.83–0.96) and a lower educational level (OR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.25–0.96) were factors related to purchasing antibiotics without a prescription. Overall, we recommend increasing fines and monitoring of drugs stores, greater promotion of the family doctor system as well as increasing media and educational campaigns to limit self-purchasing of antibiotics in Vietnam and reduce resistance.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/8/1091antibioticsdispensingself-purchasingdrug retailersknowledgeregulations |
| spellingShingle | Thuy Thi Phuong Nguyen Thang Xuan Do Hoang Anh Nguyen Cuc Thi Thu Nguyen Johanna Catharina Meyer Brian Godman Phumzile Skosana Binh Thanh Nguyen A National Survey of Dispensing Practice and Customer Knowledge on Antibiotic Use in Vietnam and the Implications Antibiotics antibiotics dispensing self-purchasing drug retailers knowledge regulations |
| title | A National Survey of Dispensing Practice and Customer Knowledge on Antibiotic Use in Vietnam and the Implications |
| title_full | A National Survey of Dispensing Practice and Customer Knowledge on Antibiotic Use in Vietnam and the Implications |
| title_fullStr | A National Survey of Dispensing Practice and Customer Knowledge on Antibiotic Use in Vietnam and the Implications |
| title_full_unstemmed | A National Survey of Dispensing Practice and Customer Knowledge on Antibiotic Use in Vietnam and the Implications |
| title_short | A National Survey of Dispensing Practice and Customer Knowledge on Antibiotic Use in Vietnam and the Implications |
| title_sort | national survey of dispensing practice and customer knowledge on antibiotic use in vietnam and the implications |
| topic | antibiotics dispensing self-purchasing drug retailers knowledge regulations |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/8/1091 |
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