Title: Assessment of private health sector prescribing patterns and adherence to prescription format using World Health Organization core drug use indicators in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: Currently, the private healthcare sector's role in healthcare delivery is growing in Ethiopia. However, there are limited studies on private healthcare sector drug use patterns. This study aimed to evaluate the private healthcare sector prescribing practices and adherence to prescription format, using some of the World Health Organization (WHO) core drug use indicators in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study design was used to collect quantitative data from prescriptions pre-scribed and dispensed by private healthcare sectors in the Lemi-Kura sub-city, Addis Ababa. The study was conducted from June to July 2021. Prescriptions, kept for the last 1 year that were prescribed between January 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021, by private drug outlets, were analysed. Simple random and systematic sampling procedures were employed in selecting drug outlets and prescriptions, respectively. Results: Of a total of 1,200 prescriptions, 2,192 drugs were prescribed and the average number of drugs per prescription was 1.83. Generic names, antibiotics, injections, and drugs on the Ethiopian essential medicines list accounted for 77.4, 63.8, 11.5, and 80.6% of all prescriptions, respectively. Among the patient identifiers, the patient card number(54.3%), weight (2.3%), and diagnoses (31.7%) were less likely to be completed. In terms of the drug-related information, the dosage form (35.5%) was the least likely to be completed. Only 36.6 and 25.8% of prescriptions contained the names and qualifications of the prescribers, respectively. Conclusion: The study findings indicated prescribing and prescription completeness indicators all considerably deviated from WHO standards and hence unsuitable. Consequently, it could play a considerable role in increasing irrational medicine use in Ethiopia.