Antibiotic prescription pattern in the paeditric ward of a tertiary health-care facility in southern Nigeria

Inappropriate use of antibiotics often leads to bacterial resistance and therapeutic failures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prescription pattern of antibiotics in the pediatric ward of a tertiary health-care facility in Nigeria. In this retrospective descriptive study, the medical records of 800 patients were evaluated in Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa from 1st of January to 31st of December, 2008. A data collection form was used for the study. Drug Utilization 90% (DU 90%) and the Defined Daily Dose (DDD) were determined from the data collected. The average numbers of antibiotics and medicines prescribed per patient were 1.38±0.66 and 4.54±1.71 respectively. The proportion of encounters with injection prescribed was 43.14% and the percentage of generic drugs was 39.06%. Gentamicin, amoxicillin + clavulanate, cefuroxime, amoxicillin and cefotaxime were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics. A total of 49 bacteriological tests were carried out, of which 34 were positive and the most isolated organism was Escherichia coli. It is concluded that inappropriate use of drugs was evident in this study. Development and application of antibiotic policies in public and private hospitals in Nigeria are highly recommended