WHO/INRUD drug prescribing indicators at primary health care centres in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Appropriate use of drugs is an essential element in achieving quality of health and medical care for patients and the community as a whole. This study aimed to measure the drug prescribing performance of primary health care centres in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia, using the WHO/International Network of Rational Use of Drugs core drug prescribing indicators. In a retrospective cohort study 10 health centres were selected using systematic random sampling. A total of 1000 prescribing encounters were investigated from January to December 2010. Mean values were: number of drugs per encounter 2.4 (optimal ≤ 3), drugs prescribed by generic name 61.2% (optimal 100%), encounters with antibiotic prescribed 32.2% (optimal ≤ 30%), encounters with injection prescribed 2% (optimal ≤ 10%) and drugs prescribed from the national essential drugs list or facility formulary 99.2% (optimal 100%). An overall index of rational drug prescribing was calculated and applied to rank the health centres for benchmarking. RÉSUMÉ Une utilisation appropriée des médicaments est un élément essentiel pour atteindre une qualité des soins médicaux pour les patients et la communauté dans son ensemble. La présente étude visait à mesurer les pratiques de prescription médicamenteuse des centres de soins de santé primaires dans la province orientale de l'Arabie saoudite, à l'aide des indicateurs fondamentaux de prescription médicamenteuse mis au point par l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé et le Réseau international pour l'usage rationnel des médicaments (INRUD). Dans une étude de cohorte rétrospective, dix centres de soins de santé ont été sélectionnés par échantillonnage aléatoire systématique. Au total, 1000 consultations ayant donné lieu à des prescriptions entre janvier et décembre 2010 ont été examinées. Les valeurs moyennes étaient les suivantes : nombre de médicaments prescrits par consultation 2,4 (valeur optimale inférieure ou égale à 3), médicaments prescrits par nom générique 61,2 % (valeur optimale 100 %), consultations ayant donné lieu à la prescription d'antibiotiques 32,2 % (valeur optimale inférieure ou égale à 30 %), consultations ayant donné lieu à la prescription d'une injection 2 % (valeur optimale inférieure ou égale à 10 %) et prescriptions médicamenteuses à partir de la liste nationale des médicaments essentiels ou de la liste des médicaments utilisés par l'établissement 99,2 % (valeur optimale 100 %). Un indice global de prescription rationnelle des médicaments a été calculé puis appliqué pour le classement des centres de soins de santé à des fins de comparaison.

Assessment of Drug Use Pattern by Using WHO Core Drug Use Indicators at Public Hospitals in Ethiopia

“…13.4-24.1% [19] and report from south West Ethiopia (11.07%) [21]. However it is lower than study done in Hawasa referral hospital 38.1% [20].…”

1086 WHO/INRUD patient care and facility-specific drug use indicators at primary health care centres in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia

“…As described in our other paper on the subject [7], indices were calculated for each patient care indicator by dividing the optimal values by the actual values obtained. All the indicators had the same optimal index of 1: the closer to 1, the more rational a drug use indicator.…”

“…In Yemen, the rate of prescribing drugs by generic name was low (39.2%), the proportion of prescriptions for antibiotics was high (66.2%) and availability of an essential drugs list (EDL) was only 78.9% [6]. In a previous paper we reported a survey of rational drug prescribing in 10 primary health care centres (PHCCs) in Eastern province of Saudi Arabia [7]. The study reported here also used the WHO/ International Network of Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) criteria to assess the performance of the same PHCCs in terms of patient care and facility-specific drug use indicators.…”

Drug Prescribing and Dispensing Practices in Tertiary Care Hospital of Eastern Ethiopia: Evaluation with World Health Organization Core Prescribing and Patient Care Indicators

“…Moreover, to gauge the drug utilization performance of this hospital, indices for rational prescribing and rational patient care indicators were calculated accordingly. The optimal values of all indicator studies were standardized to 1 [12][13][14]. Among the prescribing indicators, indices for non-polypharmacy, rational antibiotic utilization and injection safety were calculated by formula (1) Index = optimal value (standard) Observed value (actual setting) (…”