Profile of oral contraceptive use in the city of Cordoba, Argentina
Keywords:
Community Pharmacy Services, Drug Utilization, Family Planning (Public Health), Health Surveys, Oral Contraceptives.Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the supply and demand of oral contraceptives available in Argentina, characterize the user population and how the patients use contraceptives.
Materials and Methods: We worked with a normalized procedure, analyzing 713 dispensations in 42 community pharmacies in Córdoba (Argentina).
Results: The 90 oral contraceptives available in the Argentine pharmaceutical market, 81% of which correspond to combined oral contraceptive. More than 80% of the sales are concentrated in only 3 laboratories. Among combined oral contraceptive, the combinations of Drosperinone-Ethinylestradiol, those with the highest average price, were also the ones most chosen by the users. In over 60% of the cases they were purchased without a prescription and without social security coverage. This was offset by additional discounts coming mostly from the pharmacy outlets. Although most of the study population had an acceptable level of education and experience in the use of contaceptives, a certain lack of knowledge in the parameters of use and in the attitude to adopt when missing the daily dose was detected.
Conclusions: Despite the broad range of oral contraceptives, the demand in community pharmacies is heavily concentrated in the combined oral contraceptive with higher price in the market, existing deficiencies in the knowledge from the patient regarding the proper way to use and there is a strong trend self-medication and use combinations of 3rd or 4th generation without the appropriate indications.
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