The Cross-Sectional Evaluation of the Use of Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapy for Treatment of Malaria Infection at a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

Abstract

In 2005, Nigeria changed its antimalarial drug policy to Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) for the treatment of malaria infection, and it is imperative for prescribers to strictly comply with this guideline to harmonize malaria management practices within the country. This study aims to evaluate prescribers’ adherence with the National Antimalarial Treatment Guideline (NATG) in the treatment of malaria infections and to describe the determinants of antimalarial drugs coprescription with antibiotics at a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. A cross-sectional, retrospective study of antimalarial drug prescriptions of one-year period of 2013 was conducted. A simple method for assessing the quality of drug prescribing (DU90%) was adopted. Logistic regression was used to predict antimalarial drugs coprescription with antibiotics. Overall, 95.8% of the total prescriptions contained ACTs, out of which 80.8% were Artemether/Lumefantrine. However, adherence to NATG was 88.2% with an adjusted value of 100.0%. Age was the only predictor for antimalarial drugs coprescription with antibiotics. This study showed high concordance with NATG at the studied hospital. Age less than 5 years is a significant risk factor for antimalarial drugs coprescription with antibiotics.