Prescription Completeness, Rational Prescribing, and Dispensing Practice at Referral Hospital, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Rational drug use is a tool through which safe, effective and cost-effective medication is provided. Rational drug prescribing and dispensing ensures adherence to treatment and protects drug consumer from unnecessary drug exposure and bad consequences. Objective(s): To assess completeness of prescription and rational drug prescribing and dispensing practice and patient knowledge about their medication. Method(s): A prospective quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in outpatient pharmacy both patients and dispensed drugs. Prescriptions which were dispensed from January 10, 2019 to May 10, 2019 were selected by systematic sampling technique for prescriber indicators analysis and patients interviewed for patient care indicator analysis. Result(s): Six hundred sixty-nine prescriptions were included in the study. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 1.46. Prescriptions dispensed with less than two drugs per prescription were 85.05%. Antibiotics were the most prescribed drugs, 42.02% and less frequently prescribed drugs were injection 0.73%. The weight of the patient was ignored in all prescriptions and only 13% of the prescription showed the diagnosis of the patient. The strength and duration of the drug were clearly stated in 81.89%, 74.61% of the prescriptions respectively. Only 68.03% drugs adequately labeled. Prescriptions with the name of the prescribers and dispensers were 32.74% and 20.93% respectively. Regarding knowledge of the patient, only 88.89% of patients interviewed had adequate knowledge of how to take the medication prescribed. The average counseling and dispensing time were 1 min 20sec and 11min 54 sec respectively. Conclusion(s): Most of the prescriptions were incomplete. Majority of prescriptions lack important patient information. So there is a need for managerial and educational intervention to improve rational drug prescribing and dispensing practices.Copyright © 2020 iGlobal Research and Publishing Foundation. All rights reserved.