Table 2 Characteristics of injection prescribers and providers, Takeo province, Cambodia, 2002
From: Rapid assessment of injection practices in Cambodia, 2002
Total (n = 60) | Takeo Province (n = 30) | Phnom Penh (n = 30) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Characteristics of prescribers 1 | |||
Medication prescription rate (prescriptions/week) | |||
average | 20 | 21 | 20 |
median | 20 | 21 | 20 |
range | 4–140 | 4–140 | 7–140 |
Prescriptions including an injection2 | 47% | 48% | 45% |
therapeutic injection | 34% | 32% | 35% |
intravenous infusion | 14% | 18% | 10% |
Main reason for prescribing injections | |||
illness severity | 44% | 50% | 37% |
patient preference | 40% | 40% | 40% |
more effective than oral medications | 12% | 7% | 17% |
reimbursement | 9% | 7% | 10% |
Preferred injectable med for treatment of febrile illness | 64% | 47% | 80% |
Believed patient trust requires injection prescription | 42% | 53% | 30% |
Believed reimbursement is higher for patient visits that result in injection prescription | 77% | 87% | 66% |
Perceived themselves as over-prescribing injections | 2% | 3% | 0% |
Knew HIV, HBV and HCV can be transmitted through unsafe injections | 92% | 87% | 97% |
Characteristics of injection providers | |||
Completed hepatitis B vaccination series | 20% | 7% | 33% |
Needlestick injury in last 12 months | 53% | 50% | 57% |
Average number (and range) of needlesticks in past 12 months among those reporting one or more | 1.7 (1–10) | 1.4 (1–6) | 2.0 (1–10) |
Use of single use needles and syringes3 | 98% | 97% | 100% |
Safety box (i.e., sharp container) present in injection administration area3 | 25% | 37% | 13% |
Reported having sufficient number of sharps boxes | 85% | 77% | 93% |
Practiced two hand recapping of used needles3 | 58% | 53% | 60% |
Left used sharps in preparation area3 | 13% | 23% | 3% |
Knew HIV, HBV and HCV can be transmitted through unsafe injections | 90% | 87% | 93% |