WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DRUG PRESCRIBING INDICATORS AT A UNIVERSITY PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE CENTER IN OMAN

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed at evaluating the prescribing patterns of drugs based on the World Health Organization (WHO) indicators at the primary health-care Family Medicine and Community Health Clinic in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study covering a 6-month period in 2016 (January–June) for all patients attended Family Medicine and Community Health Clinic in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman. Data of 300 patients with 892 prescriptions were assessed during the study period. Results: The average number of drugs per encounter (2.82), the percentage of encounters with antibiotics (13.3%), and the percentage of encounters with an injection (7.6%) were within the optimal range set by the WHO. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name (80.1%) and the percentage of drugs prescribed from an essential drug list (EDL) (40.4%) did not reach the optimal 100% value set by the WHO. Conclusion: Most of the WHO core prescribing indicators in the study were within the optimal range. Prescribing from the WHO EDL was sub-optimal. These data will set ground to optimize rational drug prescribing in the primary health-care setting.