Association between availability of glucose-lowering drugs in primary health institutions and diabetes patients’medication adherence:a cross-sectional study in Shandong Province,China

Background:Primary health care system is a critical component of diabetes care and management.This article aimed to analyze the availability of glucose-lowering drugs in primary health institutions(PHIs)in China,and to explore the relationship between availability of glucose-lowering drugs and medication adherence among type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)patients.Methods:This cross-sectional study conducted in Shandong Province,eastern China(hereafter referred to as Shandong),between August and December 2017.In total,2520 community-managed T2DM patients were selected from 68 PHIs in Shandong,including 62 village-level and 6 township-level PHIs.The self-developed questionnaire was used to survey the availability of glucose-lowering drugs in PHIs.Patients’medication adherence was assessed by four self-reported questions,and was classified as either adherent or non-adherent.Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the availability of glucose-lowering drugs in PHIs and the medication adherence among the T2DM patients.Multilevel logistic regression models were used to explore the relationship between the availability of glucose-lowering drugs in PHIs and patients’medication adherence.Results:A total of 1866 T2DM patients prescribed with at least one glucose-lowering drug were included in analysis.Among them,58.5%patients followed their antidiabetic treatment well.In village-level PHIs,the patient’s adherence rate was lower than in township-level PHIs(55.9%vs.61.1%,P<0.05).Among the 68 PHIs,average(2.53±0.97)glucose-lowering products(generic names)were available,which in village-level PHIs were less than in township-level PHIs(2.47 vs.3.17,P<0.05).And the number of available glucose-lowering products in PHIs was associated with the adherence of T2DM patients.Conclusion:Poor availability of glucose-lowering products was found in PHIs in Shandong.The availability of glucose-lowering products in PHIs was positively associated with patients’medication adherence,and could be enhanced to improve the control of diabetes in primary care settings.

Research on the Construction of Pharmacy Organization and the Development of Pharmaceutical Services in China’s Primary Medical and Health Institutions—Based on the Survey of 5 Provinces

Objective To explore the current situation and problems of the pharmacy organization and pharmaceutical services in primary medical and health institutions so as to provide a reference for improving relevant policies.Methods Multi-stage stratified random sampling was used to collect questionnaires from primary medical and health institutions in 5 provinces,and 102 questionnaires were distributed.Then Excel 2016 and IBM SPSS 21.0 software were applied for descriptive statistical analysis,chi-square test and multiple response analysis.Results and Conclusion A total of 92 primary medical and health institutions participated in the survey,and 92 valid questionnaires were recovered.The survey shows that 54.1%of the institutions have established more than 8 pharmaceutical administration regulations.63.5%and 31.8%of the institutions have formulated pharmaceutical administration and pharmacotherapy team charters(or management systems).29.7%of institutions have pharmacy personnel in accordance with relevant regulations.The higher proportion of pharmacy services are prescription review and adjustment,medication guidance,collecting and reporting adverse reactions,medication errors and medication hazard information.Primary medical and health institutions still need to further improve their pharmaceutical administration system,organizational structure,pharmacy professional training and clinical pharmacy service.

Exploration on the Implementation of the Integration of Medical and Preventive Model in China’s Primary Health Care Institutions

Objective To explore the different modes and approaches of medical and preventive integration in current primary health care institutions in China.Methods Through literature analysis,field research,telephone interviews,and other methods the implementation status was evaluated to systematically study the main experience and effect of implementing medical and preventive integration services in pilot areas.Results and Conclusion At present,there are three implementation modes of medical-prevention integration,namely,vertical mode based on the medical community,internal mode with optimized service process,and internal mode with great service capabilities.The three medical-prevention integration modes have their respective focuses,but they need to be further improved in terms of policy support,technical staffing,information system construction,and drug use.

The impacts of national essential medicine policies on the rational use of medicines in China: A cross-sectional study in primary health care institution

Irrational use of medicines is a major problem worldwide, and it is believed there would be positive correlation between the National Essential Medicines Policies(NEMPs) and the level of rational use of medicines(RUMs). Though there is some early evidence on the NEMPs’ effects on RUMs in China, the evidence is scarce, and conclusions vary. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the impacts of the NEMPs of China on the RUMs in the primary health care institutions(PHCs). A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2010. A total of 201 PHCs from six provinces of China were selected, and 39 181 prescriptions were extracted from January to June, 2010. Six indicators were used and tested by independent-samples T test. We found that the average number of drugs per prescription in PHCs with NEMP implementation(the treatment group) was significantly higher than that of the group without NEMP implementation(the control group)(3.37 vs. 2.83, P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the average cost per prescription(81.43 vs. 75.02). The percentage of prescriptions, including an antibiotic(53.40% vs. 36.48%, P<0.01) or an injection(40.54% vs. 27.94%, P<0.01), was higher in the treatment group, and the percentage of drugs prescribed by general name was significantly lower(83.71% vs. 93.11%, P<0.01). For the percentage of drugs prescribed from essential medicines list, the treatment group exhibited the higher ratio(76.12% vs. 53.45%, P<0.01). From this study, the NEMPs were not likely to have a positive impact on RUMs. China still needed efforts to improve the selection, the absence of physicians’ active involvement, and the patients’ habits of irrational medication use.