[Evaluation of pharmaceutical assistance in public primary care in Brasilia, Brazil].
OBJECTIVE
Pharmaceutical assistance is essential in health care and a right of citizens according to Brazilian law and drug policies. The study purpose was to evaluate aspects of pharmaceutical assistance in public primary health care.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study using WHO drug indicators was carried out in Brasilia in 2001. From a random sample of 15 out of 62 centers thirty exiting patients per center were interviewed.


RESULTS
Only 18.7% of the patients fully understood the prescription, 56.3% could read it, 61.2% of the prescribed drugs were actually dispensed, and mean duration of pharmaceutical dispensing was 53.2 seconds. Each visit lasted on average 9.4 minutes. Of prescribed and non-dispensed drugs, 85.3% and 60.6% were on the local essential drug list (EDL) respectively. On average 83.2% of 40 essential drugs were in stock, and only two centers had a pharmacist in charge of the pharmacy. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 2.3, 85.3% of prescribed drugs were on the EDL, 73.2% were prescribed using the generic denomination, 26.4% included antibiotics and 7.5% were injectables. The most prescribed groups were: cardiovascular drugs (26.8%), anti-infective drugs (13.1%), analgesics (8.9%), anti-asthmatic drugs (5.8%), anti-diabetic drugs (5.3%), psychoactive drugs (3.7%), and combination drugs (2.7%).


CONCLUSIONS
Essential drugs were only moderately available almost 30 years after the first Brazilian EDL was formulated. While physician use of essential drugs and generic names was fairly high, efficiency was impaired by the poor quality of pharmaceutical care, resulting in very low patient understanding and insufficient guarantee of supply, particularly for chronic diseases.
Naves
Janeth de Oliveira Silva
Jde O
Curso de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil. janeth_naves@hotmail.com
Silver
Lynn Dee
LD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018954:Drugs, Essential / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008509:Medication Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017150:Public Sector; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014504:Urban Health
D018954:Drugs, Essential