ArticleSAGE open medicine2021
Irrational drug use and its associated factors at Debre Markos Referral Hospital's outpatient pharmacy in East Gojjam, Northwest Ethiopia.
Article in SAGE open medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patient Satisfaction With Auditable Pharmaceutical Transactions and Services: A Cross-Sectional Study at Bule Hora University Teaching Hospital, Ethiopia.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitude and practice towards antimicrobial resistance among final-year undergraduate students in the health sciences at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.Journal of pharmaceutical health care and sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Irrational medicine use and its associated factors in conflict-affected areas in Mali: a cross-sectional study.Global health action · 2025Article
- Assessment of dispensing practices and patient's knowledge of dispensed medicines in a hospital pharmacy, Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Costs of Treating Uncomplicated Sickle Cell Complications in a Day Hospital Setting in Equatorial Africa.Anemia · 2025Article
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare providers toward ADR reporting regarding thiopurine drugs for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- From prescribing indicators to rational drug use: a medication safety perspective.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Diagnosis and Management of Adult Tuberculosis Patients Admitted to a Rural Hospital in Ethiopia.Cureus · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Determinants of Household Medication Storage During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Southwest Ethiopia.Drug, healthcare and patient safety · 2023Article
- 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
- Assessment of Legibility of Handwritten Prescriptions and Adherence to W.H.O. Prescription Writing Guidelines in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria - Kaduna State, Nigeria.Innovations in pharmacy · 2023Article
- Factors affecting the medication literacy of older adults and targeted initiatives for improvement: a cross-sectional study in central China.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Interventions to optimize the use of antibiotics in China: A scoping review of evidence from humans, animals, and the environment from a One Health perspective.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
- Impact of pharmacist services on economic, clinical, and humanistic outcome (ECHO) of South Asian patients: a systematic review.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2022Review
- Drug utilization pattern and adverse drug reactions of chemotherapy in pediatric patients at Muhimbili National Hospital, Tanzania.F1000Research · 2022Article
- Evaluation of the integrated model of the rational drug use into the Bachelor of Nursing Science program in Thailand: A mixed-methods study.Belitung nursing journal · 2021Article
- Morbidity and Drug Prescribing Pattern in Pediatric Outpatient Department of Kankai Nagar Hospital of Eastern Nepal.Sage open pediatricsArticle
Corrections and comments
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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
objectivesHalf of all drugs are used irrationally around the world, and about half of patients take their medications correctly. Inappropriate use of drugs leads to antibiotic resistance, medication therapy problems, and an increase in drug costs. This study aimed to assess irrational drug use and its associated factors at the outpatient pharmacy of Debre Markos Referral Hospital.
methodsA hospital-based cross-sectional study was used. Systematic random sampling was used as a sampling technique. The data were collected with a structured checklist. The data were entered into EPI Data Version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used for data analysis.
resultsThe average number of drugs per patient encounter was 2.14. The prevalence of antibiotics use per encounter was 39.3%. Polypharmacy was detected in 62.2% of prescriptions, and injections were prescribed in 13% of prescriptions. The percentage of drugs prescribed with a generic name was 95.5%. In multivariable logistic regression, comorbidities, professionals' training, and prescribers' experience were significantly associated with polypharmacy. Patient age, comorbidity, presence of chronic disease, professionals training, and type of diseases were significantly associated with antibiotic prescribing.
conclusionOur findings revealed there were practices of polypharmacy and antibiotics overuse. Continuous seminars and training on rational prescribing and periodic prescription surveys are recommended to prevent irrational drug use.
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