Prescription Pattern and Appropriateness of Stress Induce Ulcer Prophylaxis in Dessie Referral Hospital, North East Ethiopia; Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Stress-related mucosal damage includes the spectrum of pathology attributed to the acute, erosive, inflammatory insult to the upper gastrointestinal tract associated with critical illness. This study assessed prescription pattern and appropriateness of Stress Induce Ulcer Prophylaxis (SIUP) in Dessie Referral Hospital, North East Ethiopia. Methodology: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design used to assess prescription pattern and appropriateness of SIUP of 107 patients from May 1 to June 22, 2018. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Statistical package for social sciences version 20 was used to compute descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The response rate of the study was 93.15%. Of 100 patients, 82 had been received SIUP and only 50 (50%) fulfilled the prescription criteria. One-third (33%) of participants had more than three morbidities. The number of morbidities ranged from 1-5 with a mean 2.11 ± 0.99. On average, 4.56 ± 1.54 (1 to 9) number of drugs per patient was prescribed. From 50 patients who fulfill prescription criteria’s, 36 (72%) were based on major and 14 (28%) were based on minor criteria. Eighteen patients didn’t receive SIUP while they fulfilled the criteria. Omeprazole 12 (24%) and cimetidine 38 (76.0%) were the only two drugs used for SIUP. Factors associated with inappropriate use of SIUP was being female (AOR=3.80, 95% CI: 1.65-8.74, P value: 0.002) and patients taking cimetidine (AOR=2.83, 95% CI: 1.54- 5.21, P-value: 0.001). Conclusion: The overall adherence level was found to be half and major criteria’s were used for majority of patient which received SIUP. Strengthening of clinical pharmacist involvement in drug utilization process and adhering to the standard guidelines will reduce the burden of inappropriate SIUP use