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.