Analysis of Prescribing Patterns and Rational Medicine Use Indicators at a Secondary Health Facility in Yola, Adamawa State

Rational medicine use is a cornerstone of cost-effective healthcare delivery and antimicrobial stewardship. Prescribing pattern analysis using WHO core medicine use indicators provides a standardised method for benchmarking rational medicine use practices at the facility level. This study analysed prescribing patterns and rational medicine use indicators at Specialist Hospital Yola, Adamawa State, North East Nigeria. A retrospective review of 600 outpatient prescription records from 2022 and 2023 was conducted using a systematic random sampling approach. WHO core prescribing indicators were calculated including average number of medicines per prescription, percentage of prescriptions with an antibiotic, percentage with an injection, percentage of medicines prescribed by generic name, and percentage of encounters with a medicine from the essential medicines list. The average number of medicines per prescription was 3.8, exceeding the WHO standard of 1.6 to 1.8. Antibiotics were prescribed in 68% of encounters, substantially above the WHO reference of 20 to 26.8%. Generic prescribing was only 41%, compared to the ideal of 100%. Injectable antibiotics were prescribed in 34% of encounters. Essential medicines list compliance was 72%. Polypharmacy and excessive antibiotic prescribing were the most prominent irrational prescribing patterns identified. These findings suggest significant deviations from rational medicine use standards in Yola and recommend prescriber education, essential medicines list promotion, and implementation of an antibiotic prescribing policy at the facility. Keywords: prescribing patterns, rational medicine use, WHO indicators, Adamawa State, essential medicines.