Drug utilization pattern among paediatric asthma patients attending the respiratory clinic of a Nigerian tertiary hospital: a five-year retrospective survey

Drug prescribing indicators can assess prescribing performance. This study assessed the drug utilization pattern among paediatric asthma patients in University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH). The study protocol for this five-year retrospective survey (1st January, 2015 to 31st December, 2019) was approved by the Health Research and Ethics Committee of UNTH. Eligibility criteria included folders of the paediatric asthma patients within the period under review. Descriptive statistics summarized the data and World Health Organization (WHO)/International Network of Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) core prescribing indicators. The result presented that 272 prescriptions were extracted from the 68 folders. Majority of the patients were ≤ 10 years old (n = 167, 61.4%) and allergic rhinitis (n = 62, 22.8%) was the most common comorbidity. Antihistamines (n = 1407, 35.5%) were the most commonly prescribed class of drugs. Salbutamol (n = 156, 100.0%) was the only prescribed short-acting beta agonist (SABA) inhaler. The average number of drugs per encounter was 2.92 (reference range: 1.6 – 1.8). The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name and from the essential drugs list were 66.2% and 18.1%, respectively (expected compliance: 100%). The percentage of encounters with inclusion of prescription of an antibiotic was 22.1% (reference range: 20.0% – 26.8%). The percentage of encounters with inclusion of prescription of an injection was 9.6% (reference range: 13.4% – 24.1%). Our conclusion was that there is need for rational prescribing in asthma settings, with focus on prescribing drugs using their generic name and also from the essential drugs list, while avoiding unnecessary polypharmacy.