An audit of prescribing practices in health care facilities of the Wassa West district of Ghana.

Health Research

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Published

Standard

An audit of prescribing practices in health care facilities of the Wassa West district of Ghana. / Bosu, William; Ofori-Adjei, David.
In: West African Journal of Medicine, Vol. 19, No. 4, 2000, p. 298-303.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Bibtex

@article{33d8a367145949ed9c724b78135a8bb1,

title = "An audit of prescribing practices in health care facilities of the Wassa West district of Ghana.",

abstract = "While many health districts recognise that irrational prescribing leads to wastage of drugs, few monitor prescribing practices. We investigated drug use in government health facilities in the Wassa West district of Ghana. Retrospective prescribing data were obtained from 700 outpatients' clinical record cards in 7 government health facilities in the district. Prescribing patterns were significantly worse in the health centres than in the district hospital in terms of polypharmacy, use of injectable drugs and antibiotics. Overall, 4.8 drugs were prescribed per patient, 97% of drugs were on the national essential drugs list and 65% of drugs were prescribed by their generic names. Antibiotics and injectable drugs were prescribed for 60% and 80% patients respectively. The observed patterns were related to the cadre of prescribers, availability of diagnostic facilities, participation in recent refresher training and patient demand. Measures to improve prescribing practices are discussed.",

author = "William Bosu and David Ofori-Adjei",

year = "2000",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

pages = "298--303",

journal = "West African Journal of Medicine",

number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - An audit of prescribing practices in health care facilities of the Wassa West district of Ghana.

AU - Bosu, William

AU - Ofori-Adjei, David

PY - 2000

Y1 - 2000

N2 - While many health districts recognise that irrational prescribing leads to wastage of drugs, few monitor prescribing practices. We investigated drug use in government health facilities in the Wassa West district of Ghana. Retrospective prescribing data were obtained from 700 outpatients' clinical record cards in 7 government health facilities in the district. Prescribing patterns were significantly worse in the health centres than in the district hospital in terms of polypharmacy, use of injectable drugs and antibiotics. Overall, 4.8 drugs were prescribed per patient, 97% of drugs were on the national essential drugs list and 65% of drugs were prescribed by their generic names. Antibiotics and injectable drugs were prescribed for 60% and 80% patients respectively. The observed patterns were related to the cadre of prescribers, availability of diagnostic facilities, participation in recent refresher training and patient demand. Measures to improve prescribing practices are discussed.

AB - While many health districts recognise that irrational prescribing leads to wastage of drugs, few monitor prescribing practices. We investigated drug use in government health facilities in the Wassa West district of Ghana. Retrospective prescribing data were obtained from 700 outpatients' clinical record cards in 7 government health facilities in the district. Prescribing patterns were significantly worse in the health centres than in the district hospital in terms of polypharmacy, use of injectable drugs and antibiotics. Overall, 4.8 drugs were prescribed per patient, 97% of drugs were on the national essential drugs list and 65% of drugs were prescribed by their generic names. Antibiotics and injectable drugs were prescribed for 60% and 80% patients respectively. The observed patterns were related to the cadre of prescribers, availability of diagnostic facilities, participation in recent refresher training and patient demand. Measures to improve prescribing practices are discussed.

M3 - Journal article

VL - 19

SP - 298

EP - 303

JO - West African Journal of Medicine

JF - West African Journal of Medicine

IS - 4

ER -

Research