Survey on the clinical use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs in China / 中华消化杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To acknowledge the present status of clinical use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) in China. Methods Five hundred and seventy-five valid questionnaires were collected from 50 hospitals in different areas of China including Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang and Guangzhou. Results 54.7% of doctors used cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective inhibitors. The ratio of the doctors prescribing loxoprofen, diclofenac, meloxicam were 22.6%, 23.3%, 14.60%, respectively. The ratio of the doctors who prescribe uncoated routine-dose aspirin, uncoated low-dose aspirin, enteric-coated routine-dose aspirin, enteric-coated low-dose aspirin and others were 17.0%, 14.7%, 36.8%, 28.5% and 3.0%, respectively. The ratio of doctors who only "some-times" prescribed co-medicine to prevent gastrointestinal damages when they prescribed aspirin, conventional NSAID and COX-2 selective inhibitors were 41.10%, 40.70% and 45.1%, respectively, while the most commomly used co-medicine were H2 receptor antagonist (H2 RA) and proton pump inhibitor respectively. 37.1% of doctors examined H. pylori infection status, and 76.3% of doctors would eradicate H. pylori if positive. Conclusions The most commonly used conventional NSAID is diclofe-nac. The most commonly used formulation of aspirin is enteric-coated aspirin. Most doctors only "sometimes" prescribe co-medicine together with aspirin, conventional NSAID and COX-2 selective inhibitors to prevent gastrointestinal damages, and the most commonly used co-medicine is acid inhibitor. Only a few doctors examine H. pylori infection prior to the administration of NSAID.