Irrational Use of Medicines: An Assessment of Turkish Patients in Primary Care Settings

Irrational use of medicines by patients is a major global problem. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than half of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately and that half of all patients fail to take their medicines correctly.  The irrational use of medicines include the use of too many medicines per patient (poly-pharmacy), inappropriate use of antimicrobials for non-bacterial infections, failure to prescribe in accordance with clinical guidelines and inappropriate self-medication, often of prescription-only medicines. The overuse, underuse or misuse of medicines results in waste of valuable resources and widespread public health hazards.

The purpose of this study was to assess rational medicine use behaviors of individuals.  To that end, three hundred eighty-three individuals were randomly selected from five primary healthcare centers in Istanbul, Turkey.  The instrument, developed specifically for the Turkish context, included 26 questions on rational use of prescription medicines, as well additional questions on socio-demographic characteristics of participants.

Initial analyses indicated wide spread problems with misuse of medicines. Even though a majority of participants had received instructions from their providers, most of them did not understand the instructions provided. Age and education level were among the significant predictors of rational use of medicines.

The findings of this study strongly indicate that irrational use of medicines is a serious public health problem in Turkey and that strategic policy efforts by the central government are needed for rational use of medicines targeting all stakeholders.