Retrospective cohort analysis of prescription patterns of cancer medications during periods of drug stockouts in Botswana

ObjectiveCancer drug stockouts occur at high frequencies globally, however, their effects on treatment are understudied in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We aimed to determine whether causes of suboptimal cancer treatment prescriptions differed between periods of stockout and full treatment supply.DesignA retrospective cohort study of systemic therapy prescriptions for patients diagnosed with the twelve most common solid tumour cancers treated in 2016.SettingPrincess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, Botswana.ParticipantsPatients in the retrospective cohort who experienced any suboptimal treatment events, defined as ≥7 days delay or switch from guideline-concordant initiated therapy.Primary and secondary outcome measuresFrequency of delays and patterns of prescription changes for specific regimens and cancer types.Results167/378 patients contributed to 320 suboptimal events (115 therapy switches, 167 delays and 38 events with both), over 1452 total chemotherapy cycles received. Events during stockout were 43% delays, 43% switches and 14% both during stockout periods and 67.2% delays, 24.4% switches and 8.4% both during non-stockout periods (pConclusionsThe aetiology of suboptimal events differed during stockout and non-stockout periods. Prescription patterns that involved de-escalation of initiated therapy and substitution of paclitaxel with docetaxel occurred frequently during periods of drug stockout. Further research needs to be conducted to understand the impact of stockout on survival and barriers to maintaining essential cancer medicines supplies in SSA, and the factors driving frequent delays in therapy delivery.