title: WHO/INRUD drug prescribing indicators at primary health care centres in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Appropriate use of drugs is an essential element in achieving quality of health and medical care for patients and the community as a whole. This study aimed to measure the drug prescribing performance of primary health care centres in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia, using the WHO/International Network of Rational Use of Drugs core drug prescribing indicators. In a retrospective cohort study 10 health centres were selected using systematic random sampling. A total of 1000 prescribing encounters were investigated from January to December 2010. Mean values were: number of drugs per encounter 2.4 (optimal < or = 3), drugs prescribed by generic name 61.2% (optimal 100%), encounters with antibiotic prescribed 32.2% (optimal < or = 30%), encounters with injection prescribed 2% (optimal < or = 10%) and drugs prescribed from the national essential drugs list or facility formulary 99.2% (optimal 100%). An overall index of rational drug prescribing was calculated and applied to rank the health centres for benchmarking.
authors.affiliation: College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Dammam, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. aelmahalli90@gmail.com
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: El Mahalli
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005569:Formularies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019338:Polypharmacy; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D016568:Drugs, Generic