The prescription of allopurinol in a tertiary care centre: appropriate indications and dose adjustment.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the appropriateness (both indications and adequate dosage regimen via creatinine clearance estimation) of allopurinol by physicians of different specialties in a tertiary care centre.


METHODS
In this cross sectional study computerized clinical records of 156 adult patients who were prescribed allopurinol from 12th November to 11th December, 2011 were retrieved from Al Hada Hospital Taif Saudi Arabia. Main outcome variables were approprsiate indications of allopurinol, prescribing physician's specialty, and dosage of allopurinol. The prescribed dosages were categorized into correct and incorrect dose adjustments based on creatinine clearance estimation. The SPSS version 16 was utilized for data analyses.


RESULTS
The mean (±SD) age was 58.15 (±14.99) years. There were 105 (67.3%) males and 51 (32.7%) females with male to female ratio being 2:1. Allopurinol was frequently prescribed by nephrologists and family physicians in this study. Out of 156 patients, 46 (29.5%) patients received allopurinol with appropriate indications. Eighty-five (54.5%) patients were received allopurinol without dose adjustment based on their creatinine clearance estimation; among them, 21 (13.5%) received allopurinol with appropriate indications.


CONCLUSIONS
The inappropriate use of allopurinol (both the indication and prescribed dosage) is still a major problem in a large tertiary care centre. Furthermore, the specialty of physicians is also a contributory factor in this inappropriateness.
Department of internal Medicine, Taif University, Taif, PO BOx 11153, Saudi Arabia.
Al-Bishri
AB
Jamal
Al-Harthi
AH
Salma
Al-Sofiani
AS
Wafa
Almutairi
A
Ghadah
Alosaimi
A
Roaa