Medication Possession in Patients with Diabetes and Hypertension at Community Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: The medication possession beyond necessity is one of the problems in health system. Based on the campaign "New egg in exchange of unused medicines", which was initiated by; the Ministry of Public Health in 2012, including numerous studies reflected that the majority of the unused medicines comprised the prescription for chronic diseases. Main cause of medication possession was drug used behavior. There were few studies showed medication possession caused by dispensing more than necessary. This study was aimed to examine the size, value of medicines and factors that lead to medication over possession in patients with diabetes and hypertension at one community hospital. Methods: Retrospective medical records of 2,918 patients with diabetes or hypertension from April - September, 2014 were retrieved. The size and value of medication over possession was calculated by Medication possession ratio (MPR) and analyzed its statistical significance using Chi-square and Spearman's correlation coefficeint. Results: 74.61 percent of patients had medication over possession. The medication possession ratio among most patients (41.60 percent) was 1:05-1:10. The sales value of medication over possession was 91,200.46 Thai Baht. Factors affecting the medication over possession with statistical significance (p-value <0.05) were age, number of chronic diseases and the number of chronic drugs. Conclusion: Although most patients had the medication over possession, the size of medication over possession was not high (about 5 weeks per year). This study only focused on that the medication possession due to dispensing over the appointment date. Therefore, the real solution to the problem should further explore the root cause of medication possession in terms of the patient behavior through many avenues e.g. the campaign to bring the drug to the hospital at all times, counseling and refilled medication system.