Assessment of Drug Prescribing Pattern in Dessie Referral Hospital, Dessie

Drug use evaluation is a system of ongoing, systematic, criteria-based drug evaluation that ensures the appropriate use of drugs. The main objective of this study was to assess the drug prescribing patterns at Dessie Referral Hospital using some of the WHO core drug use indicators. Institutional based descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from April 28 to May 10, 2013 by reviewing 362 prescription papers which were selected using systematic random sampling technique. The average number of drugs per prescription was 1.8. Out of all prescribed drugs 91.7% were available in the national Essential Drug List (EDL) and 93.9% of them were prescribed by generic name. The percentage of encounters prescribed with an antibiotic and injection were 52.8% and 31%, respectively. The most commonly prescribed forms of antibiotics were amoxicillin (22.2%) and ampicillin (21.3%). Based on the finding of this study, the prescribing practices for antibiotic and injection showed deviation from the standard recommended by WHO. So, there is a clear need for medical education programs which should rationalize the prescribing of antibiotics and injections.