Abstract
Background: Good quality care from health facilities depends on adequate consultation, prescription and dispensing of drugs. Field surveys carried out in many developing countries like Nigeria have highlighted a significant degree of polypharmacy and high dosage prescription.
Aim: The aims of the study were to Williams & Garner 2002). Despite the compare prescribing patterns with known and accepted standard treatment guidelines and to identify probable predictors of polypharmacy in our facility.
Method: One hundred and nineteen prescriptions were reviewed from both inpatients and outpatients. Drug use prescribing indicators were produced
following the International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD)/ World Health Organization (WHO) format. Data analysis was done with SPSS-15.
Results: Up to 46.5% of inpatients and 33.3% of outpatients had their prescriptions written in generic form. The mean number of prospective drugs for inpatients and outpatients was 3.9% and 3.8% with 44.3% of prescribed drugs being on the essential drug list. 4.1% of prescriptions reflected polypharmacy. Regression analysis revealed no predictive factors for number of drugs prescribed per day. 2002).
Conclusion: Generic prescribing is practiced much less than expected. Polypharmacy remains a significant finding.