Peptic ulcer treatment evaluation in tertiary and secondary hospitals in north central Nigeria

Abstract

Despite the availability of evidence-based treatment guidelines for treating peptic ulcer disease with the possibility of complete resolution of the disease, the treatment of the ulcer disease is still plagued with sub-optimal outcomes with non-adherence to treatment guidelines being highlighted as part of the reasons for sub-optimal peptic ulcer disease outcomes. This study sought to assess peptic ulcer treatment patterns at one tertiary (Jos University Teaching Hospital) and one secondary (Plateau State Specialist Hospital) healthcare facilities in Jos, Plateau State North-Central Nigeria, and compared their adherence to WHO/local peptic ulcer treatment guidelines. The study employed a retrospective study design utilizing a designed study pro-forma used in extracting data relevant to the study objectives from the patients’ medical records. The data were analyzed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for windows version 16.0. Descriptive statistics were generated for treatment patterns while Chi-Square test set at 95% confidence interval was run for comparison of patterns between the two healthcare facilities. The results showed that females suffer more from PUD than males in both hospitals (75.8%/ 73.7% tertiary/ secondary healthcare facility respectively). Those 21- 30 years of age had the highest percentage of PUD. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) were the most prescribed category of peptic ulcer medications in both facilities (79.2%/ 92.3% tertiary/ secondary healthcare facility respectively). One-quarter of prescriptions compared to one-third of prescriptions in tertiary/secondary healthcare facilities respectively had prescriptions for H. pylori eradication. The mean cost per prescription of ulcer drugs in tertiary and secondary was NGN1512±957.035 and NGN2241±1607.789 respectively, and the difference was statistically significantly (P<0.05). Peptic ulcer treatment in both health care facilities did not adhere strictly to Standard Treatment Guidelines.