Abstract
Objective: Examining and comparing the primary and supplementary prescribing indicators in pediatric outpatients under six years old.
 Methods: We performed a comparative cross-sectional study, over nine months, from September 2015. 800 prescriptions for peadiatric patients under 6 y old were collected at 8 district hospitals in Can Tho city to evaluate the primary and supplementary prescribing indicators. The sample was collected prospectively by the systematic selection, with the interval between the patients is 5. The data was analysed and compared to the standard drug use indicators in developing countries recommended by WHO.
 Results: Average number of drugs per encounter: 4.1, percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name: 94.2%, percentage of encounters with an antibiotic prescribed: 85.8%, percentage of drugs prescribed from essential drugs list by Ministry of Health: 78.7%, percentage of encounters with a corticoid prescribed: 41.7%, percentage of encounters with a vitamin prescribed: 13.1%, average drug cost per encounter: 37.5 thousands VND, percentage of drug costs spent on antibiotics: 55.2%, percentage of drug costs spent on essential drugs: 75.7%, percentage of drug costs spent on corticoid: 1.9%, percentage of drug costs spent on vitamin: 1.4%.
 Conclusion: The results of this research have identified some issues in outpatient prescribing, which may lead to intervention studies for evaluating changes in these issues in the outpatient clinic.
Highlights
Human requirements for healthcare increased with the level of social development
The primary prescribing indicators were assessed, including average number of drugs per encounter, percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name, percentage of encounters with an antibiotic prescribed, percentage of drugs prescribed from the essential drugs list by Ministry of Health, percentage of encounters with a corticoid prescribed, and percentage of encounters with a vitamin prescribed
The same process was performed with the supplementary prescribing indicators which consists of average drug cost per encounter, percentage of drug costs spent on antibiotics, percentage of drug costs spent on essential drugs, percentage of drug costs spent on corticoid, and percentage of drug costs spent on a vitamin
Summary
Irrational prescription and drug use have been a matter of concern in most countries because of serious consequences for the economy and society. The drug overuse in Vietnam is an emerging issue. In Bachmai Hospital, a research by Tran Nhan Thang (2012) on 3,971 outpatients who were prescribed showed that the average number of drugs was 4.7 and approximately 32.3% of all prescriptions had antibiotics [2]. Eight local hospitals which located at the urban of Can Tho city haven’t got good conditions and infrastructure for healthcare. Our main objective was to evaluate and compare the drug prescription parameters with World Health Organization (WHO) standards in peadiatric outpatients under six years old at district hospitals of Can Tho city in the period of 2015-
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