Improving drug use: a case study of events which led to changes in use of flucloxacillin in Australia

Policy makers and health professionals charged with implementing policies to improve medication use require knowledge as to how to integrate and co-ordinate strategies and interventions which have been shown to be effective. Experimental methodologies are commonly used to assess the effectiveness of interventions to improve medication use and while valuable for determining the effectiveness of particular interventions, they do not add to our understanding of how to co-ordinate and integrate multiple initiatives to improve medication use. We argue that analyses of the overall system of events which are implemented to improve medication use are also needed. In this paper, we demonstrate how the case study analysed within the framework of the Transtheoretical Model of behaviour change can be used to provide an understanding of the relationship of events which result in changes in medication use. A case study of the sequence of events which led to changes in the utilisation of flucloxacillin in Australia is assessed. The analysis demonstrated that the effectiveness of individual interventions was dependent upon the initiatives which were implemented concurrently and those that had been implemented previously. Changes in the utilisation of flucloxacillin resulted from regulatory interventions and the promotion of appropriate alternative therapies. The effectiveness of this change was enhanced by previous interventions which had raised awareness amongst health professionals of the adverse hepatic reaction associated with the use of flucloxacillin. This methodology adds to those currently employed to study methods of improving use of medications. It provides an understanding of the role of each initiative in the overall system. This is valuable for policy makers, providing them with information on how to co-ordinate and orchestrate the myriad of activities which support quality use of medicines.

Antibiotic use in the Australian community, 1990-1995

OBJECTIVE

To determine the pattern of antibiotic use in the Australian community, 1990-1995, and compare it with the pattern in other developed countries.

DESIGN

Survey of data from the national database on drugs dispensed in Australia (1990-1995), an international database on retail drug sales (1985-1994), and Australian prescriber surveys (1994, 1995).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

National and international retail sales of oral antibiotics (defined daily doses [DDDs]/1000 population/day) and antibiotic prescriptions dispensed through community pharmacies by drug type; antibiotic prescribing profiles for common conditions.

RESULTS

Antibiotic use in Australia remained steady between 1990 and 1995, with an estimated 24.7 DDDs/1000 population/day dispensed through community pharmacies in 1990 and 24.8 DDDs/1000 population/day in 1995. Amoxycillin, although declining in use, remained the most dispensed antibiotic. Compared with the other countries surveyed, Australia had the highest percentage use of tetracyclines, such as doxycycline, and the lowest percentage use of fluoroquinolones. Use of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and flucloxacillin declined in Australia. In new cases of upper respiratory tract infection or pharyngitis, an antibiotic prescription was recorded for 57% of urban patient encounters and 73% of rural patient encounters.

CONCLUSIONS

Antibiotic use in Australia is high, as in many other developed countries, but did not increase between 1990 and 1995. The overall profile of antibiotic use in Australia by drug class was similar to that in the United Kingdom. Antibiotics were still commonly prescribed for upper respiratory tract infection (which is usually viral), more commonly by rural than by urban general practitioners.