Prescribing Pattern of Dermatological Compounding in Ethiopia: The Case of ALERT Hospital

Abstract

Background: Skin diseases are among the major contributors of disease burden in Ethiopia affecting individuals of all age. Extemporaneous compounding of topical medications serves as a necessary option to treat skin diseases when manufactured medications could not meet specific patient needs. Different classes of drugs are commonly used for the treatment of dermatologic diseases. Failure to periodically assess the prescribing pattern and patient needs may lead to inappropriate planning and implementation that ultimately compromise the service. Periodic prescription analysis for compounded medications helps to monitor the prescription pattern with respect to medication selection, disease condition, dosage form types and other relevant parameters. The current study was conducted to analyze the pattern of compounding prescriptions for dermatologicals in ALERT hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional design was conducted by retrospectively evaluating compounding prescription records of January and July, 2021. A total of 460 prescriptions in the hospital community pharmacy were systematically selected. Data related to disease pattern, product selection and dosage form type were extracted and analyzed. Data analysis was done using software for the statistical package for social science version 25.0. Results: A total of 441 prescriptions containing dermatological products for compounding were analyzed. Most patients were female (62.8%) and aged 30-64 years (44.0%). Psoriasis (36.2%), acne vulgaris (15.3%), and rosacea (13.4%) were the top 3 skin diseases for which the compounding preparations were prescribed. Salicylic acid (38.0%) was the most frequently prescribed drug followed by betamethasone (20.2%); while white petrolatum (47.2%) was the most common diluting agent used for compounding. Conclusion: Psoriasis was the major dermatologic disease for compounding prescriptions and salicylic acid was the most frequent product used in compounding for treatment of the prescribed skin diseases.

Occupational stress and health risk of employees working in the garments sector of Bangladesh: An empirical study

“…It indicated that the general major illnesses as faced by both the groups were almost same. Several studies [e.g., ( 64 , 67 , 68 , 78 )] also found similar results, which confirmed the findings of the present study. Stressful occupation causes some major diseases, which frequently attacked the respondents, were also investigated.…”

“…Considered a public health problem due to its impact on workers' health, work-related stress can be seen as an illness that has emerged in modern society. Different reports indicate that workplace stress affects workers' health risk i.e., physical health, mental health, and behavior ( 33 , 66 , 67 ). Stress contributes to decreased organizational performance, decreased employee overall performance, high error rate and poor quality of work, high staff turnover, absenteeism and health risk.…”