[Regulations governing the dispensing of medications and their effect on antibiotic consumption in Venezuela].

OBJECTIVE

Determine the variations in consumption trends for regulated and unregulated antibiotics in Venezuela in the period before (2005) and after (2006-2008) the regulation of prescription sales was introduced.

METHODS

Information on antibiotic consumption in Venezuela was obtained from the data provided by International Marketing Services. Consumption was expressed in daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed, with a 95% confidence interval, to identify the differences between the periods studied.

RESULTS

The regulated antibiotics with the highest consumption were ciprofloxacin and azithromycin. The classes of unregulated antibiotics with the highest consumption were penicillins and first-generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, diaminopyridine-sulfonamides, and tetracyclines. Total consumption in the categories of antibiotics with unregulated dispensing was twice as high as in the categories with regulated sales, both before and after introduction of the regulation.

CONCLUSIONS

There were no statistically significant differences in antibiotic consumption with regulated or unregulated dispensing, either before or after the introduction of measures regulating the dispensing of antibiotics.