Drug Prescribing Pattern among Physicians in an Outpatient Department of Tertiary Hospital, KSA

The Aim: Was to assess the current prescribing pattern in the outpatient settings of tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia, using WHO core drug use indicators as a measurement tools. Methods: A retrospective study was designed. The Study was carried out in the outpatient pharmacy department at Al-Hada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia. A total of 1000 prescriptions were selected randomly from January to December 2011. Results: Patient's gender and age were not written in high proportion of prescriptions (24.2% and 85.3% respectively). In addition, patient's diagnosis was not mentioned in (65.8%) of total prescriptions. Instruction information was not available in (42%), while (16.2%) of prescriptions were prescribed in brand names and printed prescriptions were not found. There was a significant association between gender and availability of instruction in the collected prescriptions (P< 0.001). The mean number of drugs prescribed per prescription was 2.74 and only (16.3%) of prescriptions contained antibiotics. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed many positive points with minor aspects of inappropriate prescribing pattern in outpatients departments in the hospital. Promoting the use of clinical computer system is substantial to get more safe prescribing. Development and active implementation of rational prescription guidelines together with a powerful accountability system is needed to ensure that prescribers adhere to it perfectly.