Antibiotic prescribing patterns at a level one hospital using national treatment guidelines prescribing indicators in Zambia
Antibiotic prescribing patterns at a level one hospital using national treatment guidelines prescribing indicators in Zambia
Abstract
Background: Poor Prescribing patterns can greatly have a negative impact on patient care outcomes. With the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics there tends to be antibiotic resistance, unnecessary expenditure on drugs, and increased risk of adverse reactions. The aim of this study was to assess antibiotic prescribing patterns at Matero level one hospital in the adult admission wards Lusaka, Zambia. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was undertaken data was collected using one-year patients records and administration of questionnaires to prescribers. 385 patient record files were selected using random sampling technique and 9 prescribers were enrolled using convenience sampling. National treatment guidelines were utilized to measure rational use of drugs with due focus on antibiotics prescribing patterns. The collected data was analyzed using statistical packages for social science (SPSS) version 23 and reported as Frequencies and percentages. Results: Out of 385 patient files evaluated, 290 (75.3%) were prescribed with antibiotic(s). A total of 404 antibiotics were prescribed from 290 patient encounters. The average number for the most commonly prescribed antibiotics per prescription was 1.9 Benzylpenicillin (29.7%) followed by co-trimoxazole and metronidazole (19.3%), ceftriaxone (17.0%) and gentamicin (16.3%). The most prevalent conditions were tuberculosis (11.9%), sepsis (10.9%), gastroenteritis (9.6%) Anaemia (9.3%) and Alcohol intoxication (5.7%). lack of bacteriological tests was the main problem. Conclusion: Given the deviation from recommended standards of prescribing antibiotics, Interventions aimed at improving the antibiotic prescribing patterns need to be implemented so as to prevent the inappropriate use of antibiotics and avoid further complications.All authors who submit their paper for publication will abide by following provisions of the copyright transfer: 1. The copyright of the paper rests with the authors. And they are transferring the copyright to publish the article and used the article for indexing and storing for public use with due reference to published matter in the name of concerned authors. 2. The authors reserve all proprietary rights such as patent rights and the right to use all or part of the article in future works of their own such as lectures, press releases, and reviews of textbooks. 3. In the case of republication of the whole, part, or parts thereof, in periodicals or reprint publications by a third party, written permission must be obtained from the Managing Editor of JPRM. 4. The authors declare that the material being presented by them in this paper is their original work, and does not contain or include material taken from other copyrighted sources. Wherever such material has been included, it has been clearly indented or/and identified by quotation marks and due and proper acknowledgements given by citing the source at appropriate places. 5. The paper, the final version of which they submit, is not substantially the same as any that they had already published elsewhere. 6. They declare that they have not sent the paper or any paper substantially the same as the submitted one, for publication anywhere else. 7. Furthermore, the author may only post his/her version provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication in this journal and a link is inserted wherever published. 8. All contents, Parts, written matters, publications are under copyright act taken by JPRM. 9. Published articles will be available for use by scholars and researchers. 10. IJPRM is not responsible in any type of claim on publication in our Journal. .