Evaluation of the rational drug use by using the World Health Organization core prescribing indicators at the obesity outpatient clinic of a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the rational use of drugs prescribed in the obesity outpatient clinic of a tertiary care hospital by using WHO prescribing indicators. Materials and Methods: The patients that admitted to obesity outpatient clinic between April 1, 2016-August 1, 2017 were reviewed retrospectively. Parameters such as patients’ demographic characteristics (age, sex), body mass index, comorbid diseases, number of prescribed drugs, drug names, dosage forms and routes of drug administration were evaluated. Prescriptions were analyzed according to the WHO core prescribing indicators such as average number of drugs per encounter, percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name, percentage of encounters with an antibiotic prescribed, percentage of encounters with an injection prescribed and percentage of drugs prescribed from essential drugs. Results: The mean age of the patients was 47.5±12.4 years and most of them were female (88.1%). Essential hypertension was the most common co-morbid disease (33%). Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), (23.7%) was the most frequently prescribed drug. The average number of drugs per encounter was 1.7. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was 0%. Antibiotics were prescribed in 14 (2.8%) patients and injections were prescribed in 26 (5.2%) patients. The percentage of drugs from essential drug list was 61.4%. Conclusion: We demonstrated that the prescribing indicators such as the average number of drugs per encounter and the percentage of encounters with an antibiotic and injection prescribed were appropriate as compared to WHO standard values, parameters such as the percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name and the percentage of drugs prescribed from essential drug list was quite far from the WHO ideal values. The findings of this study will provide contributions to implement appropriate interventions by health authorities to promote rational drug use.