md-medicaldata

Authors

 

Oliyad Dinsa, Fekede Bekele Daba
School of Pharmacy, Health Institute, Jimma University, Ethiopia

 

• The paper was received on 26.11.2016. / Accepted on 15.12.2016.

 

 

Correspondence to:
Fekede Bekele Daba (B.Pharm, M.Pharm, R.Ph)
School of Pharmacy, Health Institute, Jimma University, Ethiopia.
P.O.Box: 378
Mobile: +251-935970999
e-mail: fekedeb@gmail.com

e-mail: fekede.bekele@ju.edu.et

 

 

Abstract

 

Background: Irrational prescription of drugs is a common occurrence in clinical practice. Eye disorder can be vision-threatening and must be treated effectively by appropriate and safe use of ophthalmic drugs. The objective of this study was to assess the rationality of prescribing ophthalmic drugs at Jimma University Specialized Hospitals, Southwest Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study design involving patient interview was carried outon ophthalmic patients from May to June 2016 using convenient sampling technique. Data were abstracted from the patients and the prescription paper using structured data collection format and interview. Data abstracted included socio-demographics characteristics of patients, prescription information and the type of ophthalmic medications. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the results.
Results: A total of 196 prescription papers with ophthalmic medications were assessed. The ophthalmic disease was more prevalent in the patients older than 50 years of age accounting for more than 44%, but no difference among male and female patients. The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.26, ranged between 1 and 5.Only 69.3% of drugs were prescribed by generic name. Among a total of 443 drugs prescribed, antibiotics were the most prescribed drug class accounting for about 60%. More than 79% and 82% of the prescriptions assessed contained strength of the drug and frequency of administration, respectively. Prescriptions contained dose and duration of therapy were only 17.8% and 12.8%, respectively.
Conclusion: Antibiotics were the most frequently prescribed ophthalmic drugs. Drug dosages, duration of therapy, strength and frequency of administration were incompletely and inadequately written on the prescription. Number of drugs per prescription and generic prescribing were not in line with the WHO recommendation. Prescribers should strictly adhere to the WHO recommendations when to prescribe any of ophthalmic medications especially antibiotics and should prescribe by their generic names in order to avoid irrational drug use in the study area.

 

 

Key words

Prescribing, ophthalmic drugs, Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia

 

 

References

 

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PDF Dinsa O. and Daba B.F. et al • MD-Medical Data 2016;8(4): 229-233