Publications

There is great concern about the impact of malaria among the estimated 247 million cases reported in 2022. Rationaldrug use and adherence to treatment guidelines are major interventions to the eradication of malaria globally.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the antimalarial drug utilization and adherence to treatmentguidelines at Kitagatta Hospital in Sheema District, Western Uganda. A retrospective cross-sectional study usingmalaria medical records of 280 malaria patients was adopted. Folders of patients diagnosed with malaria, fromJanuary 2021 – March 2023 were assessed. Data were analyzed with SPSS using simple descriptive statistics. Of the490 patient records assessed 280 patients had either uncomplicated or complicated malaria during the study period.It was found that 140 (50%) of patients were females 19-31 years (31.1 %) presenting with fever (100%), 79.3% withuncomplicated malaria, and 20.7% with complicated malaria. A total of 38.2% of the patients were on three differentpills with an average number of drugs per prescription of 2.0 (optimal value=1.6-1.8), the percentage of encounterswith antibiotics 46.8%, the percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name 100% (Optimal value=100), thepercentage of encounter with injection 30.7% (optimal value=13.4%-24.1%), percentage of patient withuncomplicated treated with AL 79.3%, percentage of patient with complicated treated with artesunate injection20.7%. The most commonly used antibiotic was ceftriaxone (27.9%). This study shows some levels of irrational useof the drugs in the course of malaria treatment in the studied facility however, prescribers strictly adhered to theuse of artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate injection for the treatment of uncomplicated and complicated malariaas recommended by the guidelin