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Prescribing Patterns at Primary Health Care Level in the Asir Region, Saudi Arabia: An Epidemiologic Study
Author(s) -
Mahfouz Ahmed A. R.,
Shehata Abdalla I.,
Mandil Ahmed M. A.,
AlErian Reda A. G.,
AlKhuzayem AbdelAziz M.,
Kisha Ahmed
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.023
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1099-1557
pISSN - 1053-8569
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1557(199705)6:3<197::aid-pds267>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - medicine , primary care , pharmacoepidemiology , environmental health , epidemiology , primary health care , gerontology , family medicine , medical prescription , population , nursing
Out of 208 primary health care centres (PHCCs) in the Asir region, southwestern Saudi Arabia, a stratified random sample of 23 PHCCs was randomly chosen. Data regarding all the medical consultations (66,438) provided by all PHCCs physicians (49) and their prescriptions were collected to study prescribing patterns. The data were collected from the health information system of the PHCCs without the physicians' knowledge. The study showed that more than two‐thirds of medical consultations (71.5%, 47,494) ended by prescribing medications. The average number of drug items prescribed for the individual patient was 1.44. The leading missing items in the studied prescriptions were, for how long should medication be taken (32.9%), the patient's name (15.8%) and the family health record number (6.5%). Prescribing drugs by generic name is very minimal among physicians (2.9%). The groups of drugs commonly prescribed were analgesics‐antipyretics (61.9%), antibiotics (56.2%), cough medications (26.6%) and vitamins (22.7%). The observed defects identify fields to be addressed in continuing medical education programmes aimed at encouraging more rational prescribing among PHC physicians. © John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.