Use of standardised patients to assess tuberculosis case management by private pharmacies in Patna, India: A repeat cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: As the first point of care for many healthcare seekers, private pharmacies play an important role in tuberculosis (TB) care. However, previous studies in India have showed that private pharmacies commonly dispense symptomatic treatments and broad-spectrum antibiotics over-the-counter (OTC), rather than referring patients for TB testing. Such inappropriate management by pharmacies can delaye TB diagnosis. We assessed medical advice and OTC drug dispensing practices of pharmacists for standardized patients presenting with classic symptoms of pulmonary TB (case 1) and for those with sputum smear positive pulmonary TB (case 2), and examined how practices have changed over time in an urban Indian site. We examined how and whether private pharmacies improved practices for TB in 2019 compared to

SUBMITTER: Svadzian A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10218738 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature