Drug Prescribing Pattern in Mizan-Tepi University Teaching Hospital, South west Ethiopia

Back ground: Rational drug use is one of the essential component of the health care system, because irrational medication use can cause multiple physical, psychological, economic and social effects both at individual and societal level. Hence, dealing with this problem is important in ensuring the safety and well-being of a nation. Objective: To assess the drug prescribing pattern in the outpatient department pharmacy of Mizan –Tepi University Teaching Hospital, Southern, Nation Nationalities and peoples region, Ethiopia. Method: A cross-sectional study design was conducted from March 5 to 25, 2016, in Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital. WHO drug use indicator format was used to collect the necessary data. Data was analysed using SPSS version 21 and presented using frequency tables and text words.Result: 384 patient encounters were prescribed with 811 drugs, from which 260(32.05%) were antibiotics. The average number of drug per prescription was 2.1, and 1.35% injectable per prescription were observed. Most of the drugs (93%) were prescribed by generic and all of them (100%) were from drug list. Conclusion and recommendations: The prescribing practices for antibiotic and number of drug per prescription showed deviation from the standard. These two commonly overused and costly forms of drug therapy need to be regulated closely. Keywords: Mizan-Tepi University Teaching Hospital, drug prescribing pattern, Ethiopia