Table 2 Medicines prescribed to febrile children attending the study PHC facilities in the three study arms.
Parameters | Clinical algorithm + microscopy (Arm-I) | Clinical algorithm (Arm-II) | No special Training (Arm-III) |
|---|---|---|---|
Total number of patients | 973 | 1058 | 1100 |
Patients with prescriptions | 944 (97.0) | 1057 (99.9) | 1097 (99.7) |
   Antimalarial drugs | 576 (61.0) (CI: 51.6, 70.3) | 1008 (95.2) (CI: 85.7, 100) | 1091 (99.4) (CI: 90.9, 100) |
   Antibiotics | 434 (45.9) (CI: 28.1, 63.7) | 593 (54.8) (CI: 37.1, 72.6) | 375 (34.2) (CI: 17.9,50.5) |
   Antipyretics | 903 (95.7) | 1027 (97.2) | 1041(94.9) |
Number of drugs prescribed | 2306 | 2961 | 2718 |
Number of drugs per prescription | 2.5 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
Average cost per antimalarial treatment | 0.083 US$ | 0.072 US$ | 0.062 US$ |
Average cost of antimalarial drug/patient | 0.050 US$ | 0.070 US$ | 0.062 US$ |
Average cost of all drugs/patient | 0.200 US$ | 0.250 US$ | 0.170 US$ |