How to Investigate the Use of Medicines by Consumers: 3. How to study medicines use in communities: 3.1 Introduction

How to Investigate the Use of Medicines by Consumers
(2004; 98 pages)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements
	Preface
	1. Why study medicines use by consumers
		1.1 Introduction
		1.2 Common patterns of inappropriate medicines use
		1.3 From research to action
	2. What influences medicines use by consumers
		2.1 Introduction
		2.2 The household level
		2.3 The community level
		2.4 The health institution level
		2.5 The national level
		2.6 The international level
	3. How to study medicines use in communities
		3.1 Introduction
		3.2 Describing and identifying medicines use problems
		3.3 Study of documents
		3.4 Semi-structured interviews
		3.5 Focus group discussions
		3.6 Observation techniques
		3.7 Structured interviews
		3.8 Weekly illness recalls
	4. Prioritizing and analysing community medicines use problems
		4.1 Introduction
		4.2 Prioritizing problems: the criteria (Step 2)
		4.3 Rating the problems
		4.4 Analysing problems and identifying possible solutions (Step 3)
	5. Sampling
		5.1 Introduction
		5.2 Selection of study sites and study units
		5.3 Purposeful sampling for qualitative studies
		5.4 Probability sampling methods for quantitative studies
		5.5 Bias in sampling
		5.6 Sample size
	6. Data analysis
		6.1 Introduction
		6.2 Sorting and ordering data
		6.3 Making quality control checks
		6.4 Processing qualitative data
		6.5 Analysing qualitative data
		6.6 Processing quantitative data
		6.7 Analysing quantitative data
		6.8 Conclusion
	7. Monitoring and evaluating rational medicines use interventions in the community
		7.1 Introduction
		7.2 Monitoring
		7.3 Evaluation
		7.4 Summary guidelines
	Back cover

3.1 Introduction

The medicine use investigations presented in this manual are intended as a basis for developing an intervention project.

Such drug use studies should be:

Efficient: Do not collect more information than needed and do not measure more accurately than needed.

Flexible: Learn-as-you-go approach, whereby newly generated information helps to set the agenda for the later stages in the development of interventions.

Participatory: Methods which allow for stakeholder participation in data gathering and analysis are preferred.

Triangulated: Use more than one, and generally three, methods to cross-check the information.

In the community: Learning takes place in the community or population groups which experience the problem, in short, intensive periods of fieldwork.

As explained in Chapter 1, the planning and implementation of community drug use interventions is a step-by-step process (see figure 3). In this chapter we focus on step 1, Describe drug use practices and identify problems. The aim in step 1 is to get an overview of the drug use problems in a region or a country. We want to identify the many different kinds of problems that occur. In steps 2 and 3 (see Chapter 4) we prioritize the problem and analyse why it occurs, as a basis for developing an effective intervention. Evaluation studies (step 7) aim to measure whether the intervention has been effective (see Chapter 7).