ABSTRACT
Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease characterized by progressive and irreversible loss of articular cartilage leading to joint pain and dysfunction; studies have shown that it is more common in females than males and adults of above 55 years of age. It has no cure yet and as the most common form of joint disease, osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with an extremely high economic burden. Drugs management is currently the best form of treatment of this condition but globally, medicines remain inaccessible, unavailable and unaffordable in low and middle income countries.
Objective: The objective of this study is to estimate the availability of drugs used in management of Osteoarthritis in various pharmacy outlets in Benin City.
Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was carried out in 4 public hospitals, 4 private hospitals, 35 community pharmacies which were selected, 5 from each of the 7 local government areas within Benin City metropolis using an already designed and standardized questionnaire. Data were collected on physical sighting of the OA drugs available at the various pharmacy outlets, pack sizes and selling price data were also gotten. After which the data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, then mean unit selling prices and percentage availability were calculated.
Results: From this survey, 29 of the 35 branded products and 25 of the 35 unbranded products had mean percentage availability of less than 50%, thus most of the drugs had mean percentage availability of less than 50%, although a few like branded celecoxib, parecetamol, branded arthrotec had mean percentage availability of above 50%, the drugs were more available in community pharmacy outlets than public and private hospital setting. The branded forms of the OA drugs were more expensive than unbranded forms for all drugs surveyed.
Conclusion: The survey revealed that most of the medicines used in the management of Osteoarthritis were not readily available in pharmacy outlets in Benin City. Unbranded forms of Osteoarthritis drugs are more available for most drugs and lowered priced compared to their branded forms.
Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Availability, Pharmacy.
