Prescribing Practices and
Cost of Drugs for Peptic Ulcer in a Primary Health
Center in Pulau Penang, Malaysia
Ahmad Almeman1*,
Ali Saleh Alkhoshaiban1 and Seemab Rasool2
1Pharmacy School-Unaizah,
Almulaida, 2Prince Sultan Cardiac Center (PSCC),
Buraidah, Al Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
*For correspondence:
Email:
ahmadalmeman@gmail.com Tel:
00966548889712; Fax: 0096663800662
Received: 13 May July 2013
Revised accepted: 15 July
2013
Tropical Journal of
Pharmaceutical Research, August 2013; 12(4):
629-634
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v12i4.28
Abstract
Purpose:
Description of the
prescribing patterns of gastric acid suppressant
treatment in peptic ulcer disease and the cost analysis
in a tertiary health center in Malaysia
Methods:
A cross sectional
retrospective study was conducted at a Universiti Sans
Malaysia (USM) Health Center, Clinic, Malaysia.
Convenience sampling was used to include 100 peptic
ulcer patients.
Results:
Sixty three percent of the
patients were male and 37 % female. The majority of the
patients were Malay (71 %) and mean age was 46 ± 9.7
years. The most frequently prescribed monotherapy
antiulcer drugs were ranitidine (83 %) and omeprazole
(17 %), while for combination therapy (with antacids),
it was ranitidine (85 %). The average cost of anti-ulcer
drug therapy was 15.54 Ringgit Malaysian (RM), i.e., (USD
4.98) for omeprazole and RM 4.62 (USD 1.48) for
ranitidine.
Conclusion: The practitioners in this
study preferred to prescribe ranitidine much more
frequently than omeprazole. Considering the cost burden
of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and their relatively
more adverse effects, this may be a cost-effective
strategy, but the benefits of ranitidine in terms of
therapeutic efficacy need to be ascertained.
Keywords:
Peptic ulcer,
Gastric acid suppressant, H2 receptor
antagonist, Proton pump inhibitor
