Prescribing rationality in Khartoum state, Sudan: an update

ABSTRACT

Rational prescribing is one of the essential components of good medical practice targeted to provide successful and relatively safe drug therapies. The present study was carried to assess the rationality of the current prescribing practices in Khartoum State. A descriptive, observational, 1-time study was carried out in Khartoum State hospitals and community pharmacies, to evaluate the five main prescribing indicators adopted by the WHO. Data were collected using the WHO prescribing indicator form. The total number of prescriptions collected and analyzed was 7377 prescriptions, 67% from Khartoum city, 22.5% from Khartoum North city and 10.5% from Omdurman city. The total number of drugs prescribed was 20,482, the average number of drugs per prescription 2.776 drugs, percentage of generics 37.3%, percentage of antibiotics 54.3%, percentage of injections 38.6% and the percentage of drugs on the essential drug list [EDL] was 72.8%. The number of encounters included in this study is sufficiently large compared to other previously reported studies allowing us to consider the results obtained as an acceptable representative of the total population to describe the overall prescribing pattern. Except for the value obtained for the percentage drugs on the EDL, the values of the other four indicators are indicative of prescribing irrationality in the study population. The observed irrational prescribing behavior necessitates the development of certain policies as well as practical and effective implementation mechanisms to promote rational prescribing. We, therefore, recommend the conduction of one or more of three interventions namely, administrative, managerial and/or educational addressing the prescribers population