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X Demographics
Mendeley readers
Attention Score in Context
| Title |
Assessing the quality of anti-malarial drugs from Gabonese pharmacies using the MiniLab®: a field study
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Malaria Journal, July 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1186/s12936-015-0795-z |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Benjamin J Visser, Janneke Meerveld-Gerrits, Daniëlle Kroon, Judith Mougoula, Rieke Vingerling, Emmanuel Bache, Jimmy Boersma, Michèle van Vugt, Selidji T Agnandji, Harparkash Kaur, Martin P Grobusch |
| Abstract |
Recent studies alluded to the alarming scale of poor anti-malarial drug quality in malaria-endemic countries, but also illustrated the major geographical gaps in data on anti-malarial drug quality from endemic countries. Data are particularly scarce from Central Africa, although it carries the highest burden of malaria. The aim of this medicine quality field survey was to determine the prevalence of poor-quality anti-malarial drugs in Gabon. A field survey of the quality of anti-malarial drugs in Gabonese pharmacies was conducted using the Global Pharma Health Fund Minilab(®) tests, following the Medicine Quality Assessment Reporting Guidelines. Anti-malarial drugs were purchased randomly from selected pharmacies in Gabon. Semi-quantitative thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and disintegration testing were carried out to measure the concentration of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The samples failing the TLC test were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Following the collection of anti-malarial drugs, a street survey was conducted to understand where people purchase their anti-malarial drugs. A total of 432 samples were purchased from 41 pharmacies in 11 cities/towns in Gabon. The prevalence of poor-quality anti-malarial drugs was 0.5% (95% CI 0.08-1.84%). Two out of 432 samples failed the MiniLab(®) semi-quantitative TLC test, of which a suspected artemether-lumefantrine (AL) sample was classified as falsified and one sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) sample as substandard. High performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet photo diode array detection analysis confirmed the absence of APIs in the AL sample, and showed that the SP sample did contain the stated APIs but the amount was half the stated dose. Of the people interviewed, 92% (187/203) purchased their anti-malarial drugs at a pharmacy. Using the GPHF Minilab(®), the prevalence of poor-quality anti-malarial drugs is far lower than anticipated. The findings emphasize the need for randomized and robust sampling methods in order to collect representative data on anti-malarial drug quality. NTR4341 (Dutch Trial Registry). |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 3 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Kenya | 1 | 33% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 33% |
| Germany | 1 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 3 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 80 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | 3% |
| Japan | 1 | 1% |
| Unknown | 77 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 19 | 24% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 12 | 15% |
| Researcher | 9 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 8% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 5% |
| Other | 8 | 10% |
| Unknown | 22 | 28% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 18 | 23% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 17 | 21% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 5 | 6% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 5% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 10 | 13% |
| Unknown | 24 | 30% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 03 December 2015.
All research outputs
#13,929,802
of 24,400,706 outputs
Outputs from Malaria Journal
#3,267
of 5,827 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#120,087
of 267,135 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Malaria Journal
#52
of 106 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,400,706 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,827 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.0. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 267,135 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 54% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 106 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 48th percentile – i.e., 48% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.