An Evaluation Of Antibiotics Prescribing Patterns In The Emergency Department Of A Tertiary Care Hospital In Saudi Arabia

Field: Health Professions (Health Sciences)

Menyfah Q Alanazi,1–3 Mahmoud Salam,2–4 Fulwah Y Alqahtani,5 Anwar E Ahmed,2,3 Abdullah Q Alenaze,6 Majed Al-Jeraisy,2,3,7 Majed Al Salamah,8 Fadilah S Aleanizy,5 Daham Al Daham,2,3 Saad Al Obaidy,7 Fatma Al-Shareef,9 Abdulaziz H Alsaggabi,1 Mohammed H Al-Assiri2,3 1Drug Policy and Economics Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Hariri School of Nursing, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; 5Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 6Ishbilia Primary Health Care, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 7Pharmaceutical Care Service, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 8Emergency Department, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 9Saudi Medication Safety Centre, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Menyfah Q AlanaziDrug Policy and Economics Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, P.O. Box 22390, Riyadh 11426, Saudi ArabiaTel +966 11 801 1111Email menefah@gmail.comBackground: Antibiotic prescriptions at emergency departments (ED) could be a primary contributing factor to the overuse of antimicrobial agents and subsequently antimicrobial resistance. The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of antibiotic prescriptions at an emergency department of a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia.Methods: A cross-sectional study, based on a review of antibiotic prescriptions was conducted. All cases who visited the emergency department over a three-month period with a complaint of infection were analyzed in terms of patient characteristics (age, sex, infection type, and number of visits) and prescription characteristics (antibiotic category, spectrum, course and costs). The World Health Organization and International Network of Rational Use of Drugs prescribing indicators were presented. Descriptive and analytic statistics were applied.Results: A total of 36,069 ED visits were recorded during the study period, of which 45,770 drug prescriptions were prescribed, including 6,354 antibiotics. The average number of drugs per encounter was 1.26, while the percentage of encounters with a prescribed antibiotic was 17.6%. Among antibiotic prescriptions, the percentage of encounters with injection antibiotics was 15.2%. Almost 77% of antibiotics were prescribed by their generic names, and the percentage of antibiotics prescribed from the essential list was 100%.Conclusion: The average number of drugs per encounter in general and antibiotics per encounter in specific at this setting was lower than the standard value. However, the percentage of antibiotics prescribed by its generic name was less than optimal.Keywords: antibiotic, prescription, errors, prevalence, predictors, emergency