Antibiotics prescribing pattern in pediatric unit of Ayder referral hospital, Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in pediatrics. Because of the emergence of antibiotic resistance, overall increase in health care cost and lack of uniformity in drug prescribing, monitoring as well as control of antibiotic use is important. Methodology: A retrospective crosssectional study was conducted to assess the prescribing patterns of antibiotics in the Pediatrics ward of the Ayder Referral Hospital from March until May 2013 based on patient medical records. A total of 190 patient medical records were taken in this study. Data was entered into the computer and analyzed by using Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS version 16.0. Results: The average number of drugs per patient was four and the average number of antibiotics per patient was two. More than 95% of the patients were exposed to at least two drugs. The maximum number of drugs per patient was ten while the maximum number of antibiotic per patient was five. The most common diseases were pneumonia 51 (16.3%), sever acute malnutrition 39(12.5%) and Acute gastroenteritis 21(6.7%). The most commonly prescribed antibiotics were ceftriaxone 76(19.6%), Gentamicin 59(15.8%) and Ampicillin 57(14.7%). Most of (71.8%) of the drugs were administered parentally. Pediatrics of age 1-5 years received more antibiotics than < 1 and 5-14 years with proportion of 37.8%, 36.6% and 25.5% respectively. About 649 (94.9%) of all the drugs were prescribed by their generic name. About 651 (95.2%) of drugs were prescribed from Essential Drug List but 33(4.8%) were not. Conclusion: Children of age 1-5 years receive more antibiotic than other age group. Therefore, strategies that promote rational use of antibiotic should focus on these patients’ populations.