ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Information on prescribing practices in Palestine is lacking, however, still essential for strategic planning. PURPOSE: To characterise prescribing patterns and specific medicine use indicators in selected non-governmental organisations' (NGO) primary healthcare clinics/centres (PHC) in the West Bank (WB) in Palestine. METHODOLOGY: A prospective cross-sectional survey of prescribing practices based on medical records of 6032 patients with acute symptoms frequenting 41 NGO PHCs in the WB, between July and September 2004. A systematic random sample of every 10th patient appearing on the patient registration list was selected. Direct observation of consultation and dispensing practices and times in a sub-group of patients was completed utilising special forms. RESULTS: Respiratory tract infections were the most commonly occurring conditions. On average, 1.9 drugs were prescribed per encounter and antibiotics were the most commonly prescribed medications, followed by Analgesics and NSAIDs accounting for 46 and 20% of the total medications expenditures, respectively. Injections and combined medications use per encounter was 16 and 8%, respectively. Most commonly prescribed medications were of local production. Consultation (6.4 +/- 4.6 minutes) and dispensing times (1.6 +/- 1.5 minutes) were short with inadequate labelling. Provision of reference sources and treatment guidelines implementation were also inadequate. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that prescribing practices could be improved through wider implementation of treatment guidelines, a review of antibiotic prescribing, and increased time spent with patients to promote concordance. Strategies aimed at improving prescribing and dispensing practices should be addressed through new innovative capacity building models based on problem solving and feedback mechanisms.
