ASSESSMENT OF OPHTHALIMIC DRUG USE AT BORU HOSPITAL (BH), DESSIE, NORTH EAST ETHIOPIA

Background: Recently, in the discipline of ophthalmology, there have been many developments and introduction of new ocular therapeutic agents. To improve drugs therapeutic efficacy, minimize adverse effects, and delay development of resistance drug utilization trends and patients need to be evaluated periodically. Objective: To assess the prescribing, drug use, and to dispense practice of ophthalmic drugs at Boru hospital. Methodology: Cross-sectional study was conducted on patients attending outpatient department pharmacy of Boru Meda hospital to collect their medicines. Prescriptions of 84 patients encountered were analyzed using World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing indicators and additional indices. Result: Analysis showed that the mean number of drug per prescription was 2.2 and 97.2% of prescribed drugs were from the national essential drug list. 89.5% of drugs were prescribed by their generic name. Majority of the prescribed drugs were antibiotics (62.7%), and only 17.7% of the prescriptions had a frequency of dosing. Percentage of patients with good post-dispensing knowledge on the dispensed ophthalmic drugs was 37.1%. Dispensing and counseling time were 18sec and 1.30 minute, respectively. Conclusion: The study indicated an awareness of polypharmacy. But showed ample scope for improvement in encouraging the prescriber to write the complete prescription and the dispenser to provide adequate counseling.