Online search interest in the use of antibiotics for dental pain: an infodemiology study / Interesse em pesquisas online sobre o uso de antibióticos para dor dentária: um estudo infodemiológico

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the online search interest pertaining to queries regarding antibiotics for dental pain. Material and Methods : Google Trends™ was used to identify the online search interest. Previously, a literature search was performed on the most frequently used antibiotics in dentistry in Brazil. Accordingly, the search terms used were Amoxicillin (AM), Clindamycin (CD), Azithromycin (AZ) and Metronidazole (MD), with the phrase "for toothache" in Portuguese and English. A time-series covered the last 240 weeks (from 2015 to 2020), and the results of each term were compared to their respective annual value. Geographic regions were also evaluated. To obtain a relative search volume (RSV), the resulting Google Trends™ numbers were then scaled to a range from 0 to 100 based on the ratio of searches on a topic to searches across all topics. Results : We observed an upward trend in all antibiotics search terms over the 5 years analyzed, with a peak of greater interest in 2019. The antibiotic of most interest related to toothache was 'AM', followed by 'AZ', 'MD', and 'CD'. The annual RSV of toothache searches rose steadily from 2015 to 2020. Variations were observed between Brazilian geographic regions, and the Northeast region presented with the greatest interest in the topic. Conclusion : Although there were variations in annual and regional trends, an expressive and persistent increase in collective interest regarding the use of antibiotics related to toothache, mainly amoxicillin, was observed. Our findings provide insights for public health promotion programs. (AU)

Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o interesse da pesquisa online em consultas sobre antibióticos para dor de dente. Material e métodos : o Google Trends™ foi usado para identificar o interesse de pesquisa online. Anteriormente, foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre os antibióticos mais utilizados em odontologia no Brasil. A partir daí, os termos de busca utilizados foram Amoxicilina (AM), Clindamicina (CD), Azitromicina (AZ) e Metronidazol (MD) com os termos "para dor de dente" em português e inglês. Uma série histórica abrangeu as últimas 240 semanas (abril de 2015 a abril de 2020), e os resultados de cada período foram comparados com seus respectivos valores anuais. Regiões geográficas também foram avaliadas. Os números resultantes do Google Trends ™ são dimensionados para um intervalo de 0 a 100 com base na proporção de um tópico para todas as pesquisas em todos os tópicos de busca. Isso é chamado de volume relativo de pesquisa (RSV). Resultados : Foi observada uma tendência crescente para todos os termos de antibióticos ao longo dos 5 anos analisados, com um pico de maior interesse em 2019. O antibiótico de maior interesse na dor de dente foi 'AM', seguido por 'AZ', 'MD' e 'CD'. O RSV anual das buscas de dor de dente cresceu continuamente de 2015 a 2020. Variações foram observadas entre as regiões geográficas brasileiras, sendo que a Região Nordeste apresentou o maior interesse pelo tema. Conclusão : Embora tenha havido variação nas tendências anuais e regionais, observou-se um aumento expressivo e persistente do interesse coletivo pelo uso de antibióticos relacionados à dor de dente, principalmente a amoxicilina. Nossas descobertas fornecem insights para programas de promoção pública.(AU)

Antibiotic Dispensing Practices in Community Pharmacies: A Major Health Concern in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Aims:The practice of antibiotic dispensing in community pharmacies may contribute to irrational use of antibiotics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibiotic dispensing patterns in community pharmacies of the Eastern DRCongo.Methods:It is a cross-sectional study carried out at Bukavu city. The study included 1504 subjects attending community pharmacies. Thus, a total number of 40 pharmacies were selected. The sociodemographic profiles of patients and dispensers were also recorded. The pharmacological interventions were investigated in terms of antibiotics dispensed according to patient’s complaints antibiotic dispensing with or without prescription, the substitution of antibiotics in prescriptions.Results: Participants attending pharmacies for antibiotic needs were in the mean age of 29.8±13 years. Most of the pharmacy workers consisted of pharmacy technicians (70%) and no trained dispensers (20%). Pharmacists represented only 10% of all dispensers in community pharmacies. We found that 67.8% of subjects purchased antibiotics without prescription. The antibiotics dispensed without prescription were either on patients’ requests (70.1%) or the suggestion of dispensers (29.9%). Only 18.4% of prescriptions were subject to substitution. The conditions for requiring antibiotic dispensing without prescriptions were respectively gastrointestinal (34%), respiratory (27%), genitourinary (25%), skin (11%) and dental (2%) infections. Conditions that were not well defined represented 1%. In cephalosporins, Cefixime was the most important drug dispensed without prescription (72.5%) whereas in penicillins, this was Amoxicillin (55.5%). Doxycycline was more dispensed in the class of cyclines (69.4%). Erythromycin (53.1%) and Azithromycin (29.4%) were more dispensed in the class of macrolides. Ciprofloxacin was the most dispensed drug in the class of quinolones (74.3%) and Metronidazole (86.8%) in the class of imidazoles. Conclusion:The Antibiotic dispensing practice is very critical in the community pharmacies of Bukavu city due to the lack of qualified dispensers. This may increase the antibiotic self-medication and contribute to antibiotic resistance

Conocimiento sobre el método Dáder de seguimiento farmacoterapéutico en farmacias comunitarias de la ciudad de Sucre / Knowledge of the Dadder method of pharmacotherapeutic follow-up in community pharmacies of the city of Sucre

La presente investigación tuvo la finalidad de conocer y evaluar el conocimiento sobre el método Dáder de seguimiento farmacoterapéutico en farmacias comunitarias del patrimonio histórico de la ciudad de Sucre, ya que es necesario e importante el seguimiento farmacoterapéutico en la población para detectar problemas relacionados con los medicamentos y prevenir como solucionar respuestas negativas asociadas a los medicamentos siendo útil el método Dáder por ser un procedimiento operativo sencillo pero con parámetros fundamentales y bien estructurados para realizar el seguimiento farmacoterapéutico de una forma sistematizada, continuada y documentada para registrar, monitorizar y evaluar los efectos de la farmacoterapia. Las farmacias comunitarias son farmacias privadas de interés público, en el que se accede diariamente a comprar medicamentos, en las que el farmacéutico brinda un servicio individualizado y puede coordinar con el paciente un plan de seguimiento, lo que es diferente en una farmacia hospitalaria en la cual sus acciones son limitadas por el hospital o médicos, y se tomó en cuenta la zona del patrimonio histórico de la ciudad de Sucre ya que es muy concurrida con mucha afluencia de gente y las farmacias tienen mayor gama de productos farmacéuticos e innovadores, lo cual permite realizar seguimiento farmacoterapéutico. Entre los resultados se obtuvo un insuficiente conocimiento del método Dáder de seguimiento farmacoterapéutico en las farmacias comunitarias, dando un valor del 77% (n=27) de los farmacéuticos encuestados de un total de 35 con un conocimiento insuficiente, además se relacionaron el género, edad, cargo profesional del farmacéutico en las farmacias comunitarias y asistencia del farmacéutico a cursos de Seguimiento Farmacoterapéutico, como también el uso del Método Dáder.

The present investigation had the purpose of knowing and evaluating the knowledge about the Dader Method of Pharmacotherapeutic Monitoring in community pharmacies of the historical heritage of the city of Sucre, since it is necessary and important the Pharmacotherapeutic Monitoring in the population to detect problems related to medications and prevent how to solve negative responses associated with medications, the Dader Method being useful because it is a simple operating procedure but with fundamental and well-structured parameters to carry out Pharmacotherapeutic Follow-up in a systematic, continuous and documented way to record, monitor and evaluate the effects of Pharmacotherapy Community pharmacies are private pharmacies of public interest, which are accessed daily to buy medications, in which the pharmacist provides an individualized service and can coordinate with the patient a follow-up plan, which is different in a hospital pharmacy in the which their actions are limited by the hospital or doctors, and the area of the historical heritage of the city of Sucre was taken into account since it isvery busy with a lot of people and pharmacies have a greater range of pharmaceutical and innovative products, which allows pharmacotherapeutic follow-up. Among the results, insufficient knowledge of the Dader Method of Pharmacotherapeutic Follow - up was obtained in community pharmacies, giving a value of 77% (n = 27) of the pharmacists surveyed out of a total of 35 with insufficient knowledge, in addition the gender was related, Age, professional position of the pharmacist in the community pharmacy and assistance of the pharmacist to Pharmacotherapeutic Follow-up courses, as well as the use of the Dader Method.

A new experimental community pharmacy internship module for undergraduate pharmacy students in western Nepal: overview and reflections / 보건의료교육평가

Community pharmacies in Nepal and other South Asian countries are in a mediocre state due to poor regulation and the fact that many pharmacies are run by people with insufficient training in dispensing. This has led to the inappropriate use of medicines. The problems due to poor regulation and the mediocre state of community pharmacies in South Asia encompass both academia and clinical practice. In this paper, a 2-week community pharmacy internship programme completed by 2 graduating pharmacy students of Pokhara University (a Nepalese public university) at Sankalpa Pharmacy, Pokhara, Nepal is illustrated. During the internship, they were systematically trained on store management, pharmaceutical care, counselling skills, the use of medical devices, pharmaceutical business plans, medicine information sources, and adverse drug reaction reporting. An orientation, observations and hands-on training, case presentation, discussion, and feedback from 2 senior pharmacists were used as the training method. A proper community pharmacy internship format, good pharmacy practice standards, and a better work environment for pharmacists may improve the quality of community pharmacies.

Oportunidades y retos de la medición de la eficiencia organizacional de las farmacias comunitarias cubanas / Opportunities and challenges of the measurement of organizational efficiency in the Cuban community pharmacies

En Cuba, el sector de la salud está inmerso en la implementación de las transformaciones necesarias que se dirigen al uso eficiente y racional de los recursos, las farmacias comunitarias no escapan a este llamado. En el presente trabajo se realiza un análisis crítico de las oportunidades y retos existente para la medición de la eficiencia organizacional de los servicios farmacéuticos comunitarios cubanos. La realidad sanitaria cubana actual ofrece entre los elementos de oportunidad: el contexto político, la inserción de los servicios farmacéuticos como parte del Sistema Nacional de Salud y las experiencias previas metodológicas. A la vez, existen varios retos como: la complejidad de la selección y medida de los resultados, la calidad de la información disponible y el desencuentro entre el tratamiento de estas unidades como empresas o como unidades de salud. Los estudios de eficiencia organizacional de las farmacias comunitarias cubanas constituyen una demanda y una necesidad del perfeccionamiento de la salud pública, pero a la vez constituyen un reto debido al entorno organizacional singular que las caracteriza. Se impone rescatar la visión de las farmacias comunitarias como instituciones prestadoras de servicios de salud y no solo como unidades empresariales expendedoras de medicamentos(AU)

The health sector in Cuba is immersed in the implementation of necessary changes for the rational and efficient use of resources, a process in which the community pharmacies are also included. The present paper made a critical analysis of the opportunities and challenges of the measurement of organizational efficiency in the Cuban community pharmacy services. The Cuban health realities currently offer opportunity elements such as the political context, the insertion of pharmacy services into the national health system and previous methodological experiences. At the same time, there are several challenges to be met as the complexity of selection and measurement of results, the quality of available information and the differences as to dealing with these units as enterprises or as health units. The organizational efficiency studies in the Cuban community pharmacies are both a demand of and a requirement for the public health improvement, but they are in turn a challenge due to their peculiar organizational environment. Recovering the vision of community pharmacies as health service providers rather than entrepreneurial drug sale units is a must(AU)

Caracterización de las farmacias comunitarias de Santa Clara para la implementación de la Dispensación de Medicamentos / Characterization of community pharmacies in Santa Clara city for the implementation of drug dispensing

Introducción: la inclusión del Servicio de Dispensación de Medicamentos en la Atención Farmacéutica, busca evidenciar la participación del farmacéutico en el logro de resultados positivos en los tratamientos, basado en los conocimientos farmacoterapéuticos y principios éticos que identifican esta profesión. La caracterización de las farmacias comunitarias resulta elemental para trazar acciones que permitan implementar dicho servicio. Objetivo: caracterizar las farmacias comunitarias de Santa Clara para la implementación del Servicio de Dispensación de Medicamentos. Métodos: se realizó una investigación en sistemas y servicios de salud con un enfoque sistémico (evaluación de la estructura, el proceso y los resultados). El estudio fue observacional, descriptivo y transversal. El contexto espacial lo constituyeron las farmacias comunitarias del municipio de Santa Clara, en el período comprendido entre enero y mayo de 2010. Se seleccionó el 30 por ciento del total de farmacias comunitarias del municipio de Santa Clara. Resultados: la disponibilidad de los recursos humanos fue limitada y no existieron suficientes recursos materiales para sustentar el servicio. El 95,2 por ciento de los farmacéuticos comunitarios presentaron altas necesidades de aprendizaje sobre Dispensación y no existieron Procedimientos Normalizados de Trabajo. A través de la observación directa se determinó que el servicio no se ejecutó, lo cual se corroboró con la encuesta realizada a los usuarios. Conclusiones: las farmacias comunitarias del municipio de Santa Clara se caracterizan por tener una estructura parcialmente adecuada y por ser el proceso y los resultados no adecuados para la ejecución del Servicio de Dispensación de Medicamentos.

Introduction: the drug dispensing service as part of the pharmaceutical care is aimed at showing the involvement of the pharmacist in attaining positive results of therapies, based on the pharmaco-therapeutic knowledge and the ethical principles of this profession. The characterization of community pharmacies is important to take actions to implement this service. Objectives: to characterize the community pharmacies of Santa Clara city for implementation of the drug dispensing service there. Methods: an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional research study was carried out in health systems and services with a systemic approach (assessment of structure, process and results). The universe of study was the community pharmacies of Santa Clara city, from January to May, 2010. Thirty percent of these pharmacies was selected. Results: limited availability of human resources in addition to lack of material resources to keep the service operating. Most of the pharmacists at community level (95.2 percent) presented learning requirements on dispensing and there were no standardized working methods. The direct observation allows determining that the service was inadequate, which was corroborated in a survey to users. Conclusions: the characterization of the community pharmacies in Santa Clara city yielded that their structure is not fully adequate; and neither the process nor the results are suitable for the implementation of the drug dispensing service.