Background and Objectives: The etiology of pneumonia in the pediatric population varies by age group. Among patients one month to 59 months old, viral pathogens are the most common cause of lower respiratory infections. The study aims to determine the frequency distribution of antibiotic prescription among patients one month to 59 months old and to determine the adherence of primary care facilities to local guidelines with recommended antibiotics. Methods: A descriptive retrospective study using electronic medical records was conducted at two primary care sites. Patients aged 1 month to 59 months old seeking consult via telemedicine or face-to-face diagnosed with community acquired pneumonia from April 2019-March 2020 in the rural facility and May 2019-April 2020 in the remote facility were included in the study. The primary outcome was to determine the patterns of antibiotic use in pneumonia in remote and rural areas and adherence to the recommended antibiotics by the 2016 Philippine Academy of Pediatric Pulmonologists pediatric community-acquired pneumonia clinical practice guidelines (CPG). Results: There were 30 pediatric patients diagnosed with pneumonia in the rural facility and 213 in the remote facility. Of these patients with pneumonia, 96.7% and 94.8% were prescribed antibiotics in the rural and remote sites, respectively. The most commonly prescribed antibiotic in the rural facility was co-amoxiclav (26.7%), while amoxicillin (51.6%) was the most common in the remote facility. Adherence to the CPG in the rural site was lower at 23.3% (n=8/30) compared to the remote site which was 55.9% (n=119/213). Conclusion Primary care physicians prescribed antibiotics in over 90% of the time upon the diagnosis of pneumonia in children aged one month to 59 months old, despite viral pneumonia being the more common in primary care setting. Adherence to recommended antibiotics was higher in the remote setting than in the rural setting. Use of EMR to monitor quality of care can improve patient outcomes and safety, pointing out the importance of improving the quality of documentation in the study sites.
Pediatrics ; Pneumonia ; Primary Health Care

Background and Objective: Primary care providers are key players in providing quality care to patients and advancing Universal Health Care (UHC). However, effective and quality healthcare delivery may be affected by inadequate knowledge and failure to adhere to evidence-based guidelines among providers. The Philippine Primary Care Studies (PPCS) is a five-year program that pilot tested interventions aimed at strengthening the primary care system in the country. Evidence-based training modules for healthcare providers were administered in Sorsogon and Bataan from the years 2018 to 2021. Module topics were selected based on common health conditions encountered by providers in rural and remote settings. This program aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of training in increasing provider knowledge. Methods: A series of training workshops were conducted among 184 remote- and 210 rural-based primary care providers [nurses, midwives, barangay or village health workers (BHWs)]. They covered four modules: essential intrapartum and newborn care (EINC), integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI), non-communicable diseases (NCD), and geriatrics. A decision support system (UpToDate) was provided as a supplementary resource for all participants. We administered pre-tests and post-tests consisting of multiple-choice questions on common health conditions. Data was analyzed using paired one-tailed t-test, with an alpha of 0.05. Results: The knowledge of nurses, midwives, and BHWs improved after the training workshops were conducted. The largest increase from pre-test to post-test scores were observed among the midwives, with a mean difference (MD) of 32.9% (95% CI 23.9 to 41.9) on the EINC module, MD of 25.0% (95% CI 16.6 to 33.4) in the geriatrics module, and MD of 13.5% (95% CI 6.9 to 20.1) in the NCDs module. The nurses had the greatest improvement in the IMCI module (MD 10.8%, 95% CI 2.5 to 19.1). The knowledge of BHWs improved in all participated modules, with greatest improvement in the NCD module (MD 9.0%, 95% CI 5.77 to 12.14). Conclusions Primary care workshops, even if conducted as single-sessions and on a short-term basis, are effective in improving short-term knowledge of providers. However, this may not translate to long-term knowledge and application in practice. Furthermore, comparisons across provider categories cannot be made as participant composition for each training workshop varied. Ultimately, this study shows enhancing provider knowledge and competence in primary care will therefore require regular and diverse learning interventions and access to clinical decision support tools.
Capacity Building ; Health Workforce ; Philippines ; Primary Health Care

BACKGROUND

Appropriate use of medication is an important indicator of quality healthcare delivery among children. Previously published studies on drug utilization involved Filipino households in general and were conducted in the 1990s. No recent Philippine studies have been conducted that focus on drug utilization in children.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the current prescribing patterns in one primary care service in a rural site in the Philippines using the World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing indicators.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted by review of electronic medical records of patients seen at the primary care facility under the Philippine Primary Care Studies (PPCS) rural site from April 2019 to March 2020. Out of 9,930 total encounters, 623 patient encounters with prescriptions for pediatric patients were included in the study through systematic sampling. The average number of drugs per encounter, percentage of drugs prescribed by their generic names, percentage of encounters with prescribed antibiotics, percentage of encounters with prescribed injections, and percentage of drugs prescribed from the Philippine Drug Formulary were calculated. Values were compared to the cut-offs considered “good practice” for outpatient care in the WHO manual: (1) an average number of less than two drugs per encounter; (2) less than 30% of encounters are prescribed with antibiotics; (3) less than 20% of encounters are prescribed with injections; (4) 100% of drugs are prescribed by generic name; and (5) 100% of drugs are from the formulary.

RESULTS

On the average, three drugs were prescribed per encounter. Most patient encounters (80.9%) involved antibiotics prescription — higher than the WHO standard value of 30%. All drugs were prescribed by generic name and were prescribed from the formulary. Only 0.5% of encounters were prescribed injections, all of which were administered through the intramuscular route. Of the 1,962 prescriptions generated, antibiotics was the most prescribed medication (25.7%). The most common diagnosis was infectious in nature (88.8%).

CONCLUSION

The primary care service achieved the WHO standard values in terms of prescribing by injections and by generic names. There was a high rate of antibiotic prescriptions at 83%, and a high average number of drugs prescribed per encounter, exceeding the WHO standard value.

Human ; Primary Care ; Primary Health Care