Assessment of the behavior characteristics of medicament prescription at the health care institution, University of Antoquia, Medellín - Colombia

Abstract

An exploratory research was carroed out, taking into account some variables as possible risk factors contributing to a non-optimum medicament prescription among prescriptors and users at the Health Care Institution of the University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia, in order to give a global vision of the situation of this public health problem and to obtain information that may be the subject of future quantitative-analytical research concerning Pharmacoepidemiology. The objective was to describe the characteristics of prescription according to patients‘ expectations and prescriptors‘ behavior. Our results indicate that there were no significant differences between the answers of physicians and dentists. Both groups prescribe by taking into account patients‘ expectations and to a lesser extent their personal interest; they seem to pay little attention to adverse medicine reactions. The university community and prescriptors know the risks and disadvantages involved in the inappropriate use of medicaments; however, they use them indiscriminately in some situations, without a real justification.