Cited by 120Antibiotic Use and ResistancePharmacy and Medical PracticesPharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes

Irrational use of antibiotics in the Moshi Municipality Northern Tanzania: a cross sectional study

Open access
Mboya, Erick Alexander, Sanga, Leah Anku, Ngocho, James Samwel·2018·Pan African Medical Journal

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Irrational use of antibiotics includes prescription of incorrect doses, self-medication and treatment of non-bacterial illness. As a direct consequence of irrational antibiotic use, resistance to the commonly available antibiotics has been increasing rapidly. This phenomenon is associated with poorer health outcomes, longer hospitalization, increased cost to both the patient and government, and increased mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of, and examine factors associated with, irrational use of antibiotics in the Moshi municipality, Northern Tanzania. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study between April and May 2017 in the Moshi municipality. Twelve drug outlets, of which five were pharmacies and seven accredited drug dispensing outlets (ADDOs), were selected at random. On exiting these outlets, all adults who had purchased antibiotics were interviewed using structured questionnaires. RESULTS: A total of 152 adults were enrolled in this study. The median (QR) age was 31 years (25-42). The majority, 94 (61.8%), of the participants were female. ADDOs contributed 81 (53.3%) and pharmacies contributed 71 (46.7%) of all participants. Overall, 135 (88.8%) of antibiotic purchases were irrational. The most prevalent form of irrational antibiotic use was non-prescription usage; 116 of the 152 (76.3%) purchases fell in this category. Purchases of the incomplete dosage and purchases for non-bacterial illness were also widespread. Poor knowledge about the use of antibiotics had a significant association with irrational use of antibiotics (aOR=5.1, 95% CI: 1.80-15.15). CONCLUSION: Irrational use of antibiotics is highly prevalent in this population. Non-prescription use of antibiotics is the most prevalent form. Poor knowledge about antibiotic use plays a significant role in irrational antibiotic use. There is a need to review the accessibility of antibiotics in drug outlets.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.11604/pamj.2018.31.165.15991

Cites

26 of 26 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Mboya, E. A., Sanga, L. A., & Ngocho, J. S.
Affiliations
Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (TZ)
Corresponding author
Mboya, Erick Alexander
Venue
Pan African Medical Journal
Published
2018
Volume
31
Pages
165-165
ISSN
1937-8688 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2899644500
Cited by
117
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 17
FWCI
7.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Pan African Medical Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Fogarty International Center (D43TW009573)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology › Antibiotic Use and Resistance
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmacy and Medical Practices
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Pharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes
Keywords
inappropriate antibiotic use, self-medication, non-prescription antibiotic use, incomplete antibiotic courses, antibiotic resistance, antibiotic knowledge, Moshi Municipality
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Nonprescription Drugs, Female, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Middle Aged, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Medication, Tanzania, Prevalence, Young Adult, Inappropriate Prescribing

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review