Abstract

DRUG PRESCRIBING PATTERN IN DERMATOLOGY UNIT OF AYDER REFERAL HOSPITAL

Haftay Berhane Mezgebe*, Martha kifle, Minyahil Alebachew Woldu

Abstract

Introduction: Studying drug use patterns in hospital settings are vital to analyze the rationality and to provide feedback and/or suggestions to drug prescribers. Corticosteroids are one of the groups of drugs most commonly used in dermatology and Topical corticosteroids constitute the lion share. Objective: To evaluate drug prescribing pattern in dermatology unit of Ayder Referral Hospital. Methodology: Retrospective study was carried out in the dermatology unit of Ayder Referral Hospital using crossectional study design. Data was collected from 210 patient’s charts and all the necessary information was recorded. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16 statistical package. The results were depicted in the form of percentages and tables. Result: Our study showed that the average number of drugs per prescription was four. Topical corticosteroids (29.94%) were the most commonly prescribed drugs in the dermatology unit followed by antifungals (21.79%) and antibiotics (15.27%). The number of corticosteroids prescribed by their generic name was only 19.38%. Conclusion: Topical corticosteroids were the most commonly prescribed drug and Tinea captis was the most prevalent disease condition in the dermatology unit. The average number of drugs per prescription was high and prescribers Should give emphasis to keep the average number of drugs per prescription as low as possible.

Keywords: Corticosteroid, Topical, Prescribing pattern, Dermatology.