title: An evaluation of the prescribing patterns for under-five patients at a Tertiary Paediatric Hospital in Sierra Leone.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is limited information on pediatric prescribing in Sierra Leone. This study evaluated prescribing patterns for under-five patients at Ola During Children's Hospital (ODCH) and assessed the extent of rational prescribing.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective study of 294 prescriptions, selected by systematic random sampling was conducted at the outpatient department of ODCH. The World Health Organisation prescribing indicators were analyzed using the SPSS package 16.0. The index of rational drug prescribing (IRDP) was calculated to assess rational prescribing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average number of medicines per prescription was 3.77. The percentage of medicines prescribed by generic names was 71.0%, while 74.8% and 21.1% of prescriptions had an antibiotic and injection, respectively. The percentage of medicines prescribed from the national essential medicines list was 70.6%. The most commonly prescribed pharmacological groups of medicines were vitamins (85.37%) and antibiotics (82.99%). The IRDP was 2.71, instead of the ideal value of 5.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pediatric prescribing patterns at the outpatient department of ODCH cannot be said to be entirely rational, especially with regards to antibiotic and injection prescribing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Christine Princess
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Peter Bai
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Alusine Tommy
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Kargbo
keywords: Antibiotics; essential medicines list; generics; injections; rational prescribing; under-five