The Impact of International Nonproprietary Names Integration on Prescribing Reimbursement Medicines for Arterial Hypertension and Analysis of Medication Errors in Latvia

Anna Gavrilova (Corresponding Author), Maksims Zolovs, Gustavs Latkovskis, Inga Urtāne

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
22 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The use of international nonproprietary names (INNs) has been mandatory for prescriptions of state-reimbursed drugs in Latvia since 1 April 2020. In a retrospective analysis, we aimed to examine the impact of the new regulation on changes in the prescribing and dispensing practice of antihypertensive agents with an example of bisoprolol or/and perindopril and their combinations. All state-reimbursed bisoprolol and/or perindopril prescriptions for arterial hypertension were evaluated in two time periods: 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 and 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. The proportion of INN prescriptions increased from 2.1% to 92.3% ( p < 0.001, φ = 0.903). The rate of fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) increased from 60.8% to 66.5% ( p < 0.001, φ = 0.059). The rate of medication errors was 0.6%. The most common (80.6%) error was that the dispensed medicine dose was larger or smaller than indicated on the prescription. In addition, prescribing an FDC medicine increased the chance of making an error by 2.5 times on average. Regulatory changes dramatically affected the medicine-prescribing habits of INNs. The increase in FDC prescription rates may align with the recommendations of the 2018 ESC/ESH guidelines. The proportion of total errors is estimated as low, but control mechanisms are needed to prevent them.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10156
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume19
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Aug 2022

Keywords*

  • eHealth
  • electronic prescription
  • fixed-dose combination
  • FDC
  • database
  • pharmacists
  • dispensing
  • regulatory changes
  • primary care

Field of Science*

  • 3.1 Basic medicine
  • 3.3 Health sciences

Publication Type*

  • 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

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