ArticleBMC medical informatics and decision making2021
Drug use pattern using WHO core drug use indicators in public health centers of Dessie, North-East Ethiopia.
Article in BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Inappropriate ceftriaxone utilization and predictor factors in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Drug use patterns at a Kenyan referral hospital: A cross-sectional study using WHO core indicators.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Irrational medicine use and its associated factors in conflict-affected areas in Mali: a cross-sectional study.Global health action · 2025Article
- The triple burden: A systematic review and meta-analysis of essential medicine availability, price, and affordability across Ethiopian health facilities.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Review
- Antimicrobial prescribing patterns among pediatric outpatient encounters in primary healthcare centers in Bujumbura Mairie, Burundi.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Assessment of dispensing practices and patient's knowledge of dispensed medicines in a hospital pharmacy, Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- From prescribing indicators to rational drug use: a medication safety perspective.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Comparative assessment of rational use of drugs in public and private hospital pharmacies: a multicenter cross-sectional study using INRUD/WHO prescribing indicators.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Prescription writing pattern among the dental practitioners of a tertiary care hospital in Karachi.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Evaluating drug use patterns among paediatric outpatients in Burundi.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Rational Medicines Use Based on World Health Organization Core Indicators: A Cross-Sectional Study in Five Health Districts in Mauritania.Integrated pharmacy research & practice · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Rational Drug Use Based on WHO/INRUD Core Drug Use Indicators in a Secondary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study in Western Uganda.Drug, healthcare and patient safety · 2023Article
- Article
- Assessment of drug use in primary health centers in Lagos State, Nigeria.The Pan African medical journal · 2022Observational
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRational drug use requires that patients receive and take medication appropriately. Though the process of diagnosis and pharmaceutical care is complex, World Health Organization (WHO)/international network for rational use of drugs (INRUD) core drug use indicators investigate drug use to minimize the hazardous effect of the drug and enhance the wise use of scares resources. This study assessed drug use patterns in health centers of Dessie town using WHO/INRUD indicators.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in public health centers of Dessie town. Data were retrospectively collected from 1500 prescriptions dispensed from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018 using WHO data collection tool to assess prescribing indicators. For patient care and health facility indicators, 600 patients and 3 health centers were prospectively reviewed. Systematic random sampling was used to select samples. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.
resultsThe average number of drugs per encounter was 2.1. The percentage of encounters with antibiotics and injection was 44% and 13.9%, respectively. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name and from an essential drug list was 98% and 100%, respectively. On average, patients spent 4.7 min for consultation and 105 s for dispensing. From 1305 prescribed drugs, 92% were dispensed, while only 4% were labeled adequately. More than half (54.8%) of patients had adequate knowledge of their medication. None of the health centers had an essential drug list. The availability of key essential medicines was 64.10%.
conclusionThis study demonstrated irrational drug use practices in all healthcare facilities. Polypharmacy, antibiotics over-prescribing, short consultation and dispensing times, inadequate labeling of medicines, inadequate level of patients' knowledge about prescribed medicines, and unavailability of key drugs in stock were found to be the major problems. Continuous refreshment trainings on rational use of drugs and WHO recommendations should be given for prescribers and pharmacists. Further, we recommend studies involving large number of facilities to estimate overall prescribing practices.
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