To promote rational drug use in developing countries, it is important to assess drug use pattern, using the World Health Organisation (WHO) drug indicators. The aim of this study was to assess the prescription patterns at the primary healthcare centres in Khartoum locality, compare prescription habits between consultants and medical officers and identify polypharmacy and its effect on prescription quality using WHO drug indicators. The study was descriptive and cross-sectional. The sample was selected using systematic random sampling. Five hundred and four patient prescriptions were reviewed. The study showed that the average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 2.4%, the percentage of drugs generic name was 49.8% the percentage of encounter with antibiotic was 34.1%. Other important components for completeness of prescription including prescribers name were mentioned in almost all encounters, whereas the patients age was stated in 38.3%. Drug strength, quality and doses frequency were stated in 64.1%, 69.4% and 70.4%, respectively. Consultant tendency towards polypharmacy prescription was in 14.9% compared to medical officers (85.1%). The quality of prescriptions was classified as complete, incomplete or deficient with 29.4%, 60.7% and 9.9%, respectively.
Key words: Prescription pattern; Primary health centres; Khartoum; Sudan
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