Assessment of Prescribing Pattern and Consumption of Selected Drugs at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)

Abstract

Background: Assessing the existing prescribing practices in a health facility is important as it helps to identify specific medicine use problems to be corrected for enhanced rational use of medicines. Objectives: The study aimed to describe current treatment practices using the World Health Organizations (WHO) core and other indicators, as well as document the consumption of analgesics, antibiotics and antihypertensive drugs at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, Nigeria. Methods: The study was a descriptive, retrospective study of prescriptions filed in the out-patient Pharmacy Department from January to December 2015. Data was collected using an adapted WHO/INRUD (International Network on Rational Use of Drugs) prescribing indicator proforma and descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out as necessary using SPSS version 20.0. P- values of < 0.05 were considered significant. Results: A total of 198 prescriptions and 676 drugs were assessed. The average number of drugs per prescription was 3.41, generic prescribing was 62% and proportion of prescribed drugs actually dispensed was 45%. Antihypertensives, analgesics and antibiotics made up 42%, 14% and 14% respectively of the 676 drugs prescribed. Conclusion: The prescribing pattern in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital is not in accordance with the required WHO/ INRUD standard with polypharmacy, low generic prescribing and low proportion of drugs actually dispensed. An urgent need exists for interventions to improve rational drug use in the facility.