Magnitude and factors associated with anti-malarial self-medication practice among residents of Kasulu Town Council, Kigoma-Tanzania

Background: Anti- malarial self-medication practice in Africa is very common. It is considered as an alternative way for people who cannot afford the cost of health care services. This study was conducted to assess the magnitude and factors associated with anti-malarial self-medication practice among residents of Kasulu Town Council.Materials and methods: The study was a descriptive cross sectional study. Two hundred and eighty consenting respondents were selected by systematic random sampling and interviewed with the aid of a semi structured questionnaire to assess anti-malarial self- medication practice. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant, at 95% confidence interval.Results: Prevalence of anti-malarial self-medication was (69.6%). Majority of the respondents (83.1%) reported that, they did not get better after self- medication. About 36% of the respondents metioned time taken in health facilities as the main factor for self- medication.Conclusion: This study revealed that, self-medication practice is very common among community members in Kasulu district. The main reasons identified for self-medication was long time taken to get treatment in health facilities.Keywords: Anti-malarial, Self- medication, Practice, Kasulu, Tanzania

Quality of drug prescription in primary health care facilities in Mwanza, north-western Tanzania

Background: Drug therapy can improve a patient’s quality of life and health outcomes if only used properly. However, data on prescription quality at primary health care facilities in Tanzania is scanty. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of drug prescriptions in selected health care facilities in two districts of Mwanza, Tanzania.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in Ilemela and Nyamagana districts in Mwanza, Tanzania. The study included 20 randomly selected public and private health care facilities. A random sample of the patient records in each facility was included. From each patient record, the latest prescription was assessed. Information assessed and recorded included prescribing indicators, frequency of prescription error, various formulations and groups of drugs prescribed. Prescribers were interviewed on factors affecting prescribing practices.Results: A total of 570 prescriptions were studied. The average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 2.8. The percentage of encounters with an antibacterial agent prescribed was 33.8% and injections constituted 7.9% of cases. Prescriptions by generic name were 85.8% while 90.6% of drugs prescribed were from the national essential drug list. Antibacterial agents, analgesics and antimalarial agents accounted for 75.3% of all drugs prescribed. Of all prescriptions, 485 (85.1%) had at least an error. A total of 1,177 errors were made. Errors of omissions accounted for the majority (99.3%) of all errors. The most commonly observed missing prescription particulars were the drug strength (23.2%) and patient weight (22.2%).  The average number of drugs per encounter was higher in private facilities (3.2) than in public facilities (2.4) (P <0.0001). The range of drugs per prescription was also higher in private (1-7) than in public facilities (1-5) (P<0.0001). There were statistically significant differences in the distribution of various drug groups prescribed between public and private facilities and between health centres and dispensaries (P <0.001 and 0.027, respectively).Conclusion: Prescribing of higher number of drugs than the WHO recommendations and overuse of antibiotics is still a problem at health care facilities in Mwanza Tanzania. The frequency of occurrence of prescription errors found during the study was considerably high

Magnitude and factors associated with anti-malarial self-medication practice among residents of Kasulu Town Council, Kigoma-Tanzania

Background: Anti- malarial self-medication practice in Africa is very common. It is considered as an alternative way for people who cannot afford the cost of health care services. This study was conducted to assess the magnitude and factors associated with anti-malarial self-medication practice among residents of Kasulu Town Council. Materials and methods: The study was a descriptive cross sectional study. Two hundred and eighty consenting respondents were selected by systematic random sampling and interviewed with the aid of a semi structured questionnaire to assess anti-malarial self- medication practice. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant, at 95% confidence interval. Results: Prevalence of anti-malarial self-medication was (69.6%). Majority of the respondents (83.1%) reported that, they did not get better after self- medication. About 36% of the respondents metioned time taken in health facilities as the main factor for self- medication. Conclusion: This study revealed that, self-medication practice is very common among community members in Kasulu district. The main reasons identified for self-medication was long time taken to get treatment in health facilities

AWARENESS OF CHEMOTHERAPY SIDE EFFECTS AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHEMOTHERAPY USE AMONG CANCER PATIENTS ATTENDING ONCOLOGY CLINIC AT BUGANDO MEDICAL CENTRE, IN MWANZA, NORTHERN TANZANIA

Background: Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Because cancer cells generally grow and divide faster than normal cells, they are more susceptible to the action of these drugs. However, damage to healthy cells is unavoidable, and this damage accounts for the side effects linked to these drugs. Methodology: A cross section study was conducted at oncology department in Bugando Medical Centre. A sample of 216 people was recruited into the study. The data was collected by using the pre-constructed questionnaire. After data collection, the data was transferred into SPSS version 20 and analyzed. Results: The study found that 88 (40.7%) of the respondents were aware of the chemotherapy side effects whereby majority, 68 (77.3%) of these had been informed by the doctor. Most of the respondents, 197 (92.1%) had a positive attitude towards the use of chemotherapy. Conclusion: There is still poor awareness of the chemotherapy side effects among the cancer patients attending and receiving chemotherapy in oncology department at Bugando Medical Centre. However, most of the respondents had positive attitude towards the use of chemotherapy Keywords: Awareness, attitude, chemotherapy, side effects and Tanzania

Patient-related beliefs and adherence toward their medications among the adult hypertensive outpatients in Tanzania

The following article has been retracted from Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research as it did not meet the ethical standards of the Journal and the Universities, owing to the use of an invalidated MMAS-8 scale: Jande M, Katabalo DM, Sravanam P, Marwa C, Madlan B, Burger J, Godman B, Oluka M, Massele A, Mwita S. Patient-related beliefs and adherence toward their medications among the adult hypertensive outpatients in Tanzania. J. Comp. Eff. Res. 6(3), 185–193 (2017). The authors and editors of the Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research regret any negative consequences this publication might have caused in the scientific and medical communities.</jats:p

Self-medication among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Makongoro health centre in Mwanza, Tanzania: a challenge to health systems

Abstract Background Self-medication is a universal challenge that requires attention because of the potential threat not only to the pregnant women but also to unborn child. Data on self-medication practice and predictors among pregnant women is lacking in Tanzania. Information on the effects of this practice to the pregnant woman and the foetus globally is also scanty. Methods This was a cross sectional study which was conducted using face to face interview with 372 pregnant women at Makongoro health centre. Semi-structured questionnaires were used. Data were analysed using STATA 13 (Statistical Corporation, College Station, Texas, US). Results A total of 372 pregnant women participated in the study. The prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women was 172 (46.24%). There was a significant statistical association between self-medication and occupation (P value =0.01), gestation age (P < 0.01) and education (P < 0.01). Age, marital status and gravidity were not associated with self-medication (P = 0.809, P = 0.243 and P = 0.922) respectively. When bivariate logistic regression was performed, occupation and education were the only determining factors for self-medication. Pregnant women who were unemployed, doing business and house wife were most likely to practice self-medication than employed pregnant women (P = 0.03; OR = 2.33; 95% CI, 1.06–5.31, P = 0.01; OR = 2.31; CI 1.21–4.41, P = <0.01, OR = 2.73, 95% CI 0.52–2.43) respectively. Pregnant women with no formal education, incomplete primary education, primary education and secondary education were most likely to practice self-medication than pregnant women with college or university education (P < 0.01, OR = 6.37 95% CI 2.37–19.03, P < 0.01, OR = 6.58, 95% CI 2.36–18.25, P < 0.01, OR = 3.78, 95% CI 1.89–7.56, P < 0.01, OR = 2.59 95% CI = 1.30–5.17). The leading illness/symptoms which led to self-medication among pregnant women attending clinic were malaria 56 (32.56%, morning sickness 44 (25.55%) and headache 33(19.19%). Drugs commonly used in self-medication among pregnant women were ant malarial 42 (24.42%), antiemetics 59 (34.30%) and analgesics 33 (19.19%). Conclusion Prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women is high in Tanzania. This is a threat to the safety of the developing foetus and the pregnant woman. Therefore there is a need of interventions to minimize the practice among pregnant women

Disposal practices of expired and unused medications among households in Mwanza, Tanzania.

BackgroundThe community practice towards disposal of expired and unused medications in spite of its adverse impact have been widely neglected in many developing countries. The available guidelines in Tanzania focus on the disposal of expired medications and cosmetics in hospitals and community pharmacies only.AimThe aim of this study was to assess the disposal practice of expired and unused medications at household level in Mwanza city, north-western Tanzania.MethodologyThe household based cross-sectional study was conducted among 359 randomly selected household members. Semi-structured questionnaires were used for interview during data collection and while STATA® version 13 was used for analysis.ResultsOut 359 households visited, 252 (70.19%) had medications kept in their houses at the time of data collection. Among them, 10 (4.0%) households had kept medications at their houses because they were still continuing with treatment while 242 (96.0%) kept unused medications which were supposed to be discarded. The main reason for keeping unused or expired medications at home was uncompleted course of treatment (199 (82.20%) after feeling that they had recovered from illness. The main reason for discarding medications were recovering from illness (141(48.7%) and expiry (136 (46.9%). The major discarding practices for medications were disposing into domestic trashes (219 (75.5%) and pit latrines (45 (15.5%). Majority of respondents (273 (76%) were aware that improper disposal of expired medications are detrimental to human health and environment in general.ConclusionImproper disposal of unused and expired medications at household level was a common practice in the study area. Tailor-made interventions by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and other national as well as local stake holders are urgently needed to address the situation

Additional file 1: of Self-medication among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Makongoro health centre in Mwanza, Tanzania: a challenge to health systems

Self-medication Questionnaire Responses. The data comprises the results of the questionnaires administered to 372 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Tanzania to assess their self-medication practice and predictors. (DOCX 18 kb

Determinants of Adherence to Anticonvulsants Therapy among Outpatient Epileptic Children in a Kenyan Referral Hospital

Background: Epilepsy is a chronic disease requiring prolonged adherence to treatment. Adherence to anticonvulsants by epileptic children is important as studies have shown that about two-thirds of epileptic children can be completely freed from seizure if they persistently adhere to treatment for a period of 2-5 years.  Conversely, non-adherence to anticonvulsants may lead to increased frequencies of status epilepticus and sudden unexplained death from epilepsy. There is scant literature on factors impacting on the adherence to anticonvulsants among children. Objectives: To determine rate of adherence and parents/caregivers’ factors influencing adherence to anticonvulsants among outpatient epileptic children attending neurology clinic. Methods: Cross-sectional study design was carried out at Kenyatta National Hospital from May to July 2014. Systematic sampling was used to recruit a sample of 176 parents/guardians of children with epilepsy. Predesigned questionnaires and Morisky tool for assessing medication adherence were used to capture participant’s socio-demographics and factors impacting on adherence to antiepileptics.  Data were analysed using STATA software version 10.  Discrete variables were summarized with frequencies and percentages while continuous variables were summarized using measures of central tendency and dispersion. Results: The rates of adherence, when classified in terms of high, medium and low, were 36.9 %, 39.8 % and 23.3 %, respectively.  Adherence rate was associated with parents/guardian marital status (Adjusted OR= 5.72, 95% CI= (1.50, 21.78), p=0.01) and education level (Adjusted OR=5.16, 95% CI= (1.88, 14.02), p&lt; 0.01). Unavailability and inaccessibility of drugs were also shown to influence adherence. Conclusion: Adherence to antiepileptic medication was poor.  This was partly due to parents/guardian’s related factors.  Health care workers should explore ways and means of minimising these factors to improve on adherence. Key words: Adherence, anticonvulsants, epilepsy, children