Prescribing practices for pediatric out-patients: A case study of two teaching hospitals in Nigeria

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate drug utilization pattern in the pediatric departments of two tertiary health facilities in Nigeria using WHO core prescribing indicators.Methods: Using a cross-sectional retrospective study approach, prescriptions  randomly selected for a period of 6 months from the pediatric out-patient departments of two tertiary hospitals: Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka and Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi in South- Eastern Nigeria were assessed. Prescribing indicators as listed by WHO were calculated and analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: A total of 750 prescriptions (450 from NAUTH and 300 from COOUTH) containing 2,739 drugs were assessed. The mean number of drugs prescribed per encounter (mean ± SD) at NAUTH was 3.5 ± 0.9 and 3.8 ± 1.1 in COOUTH. The percentage of antibiotics prescribed per encounter in COOUTH and NAUTH were 72.3 and 77.1 %, respectively, whereas drugs prescribed by generic names were 61.7 and 64.2 %, respectively. Injections prescribed per encounter were above acceptable range, and percentages of drugs prescribed from essential medicine lists in the two hospitals were > 85 %.Conclusion: This study identified irrational use of antibiotics, polypharmacy,  non-adherence to generic prescribing and high use of injections in both hospitals. The need for improvement in prescription patterns is underscored.Keywords: Prescription pattern, Pediatric outpatients, WHO indicators, Irrational use, Antibiotics, Polypharmac

Factors associated with the timely completion of doctoral research studies in clinical pharmacy: A mixed-methods study

IntroductionThere is growing scientific evidence of mental and well-being issues that doctoral research students face as a result of not finishing their program on time. This study aims to explore the factors associated with the timely completion of doctoral research studies in the clinical pharmacy speciality.MethodsThis was a mixed-method study that combined surveys with in-depth interviews. Current doctoral research students and pharmacists who have recently completed their doctoral research program participated in the study. A validated questionnaire and an interview topic guide developed from the literature and pretesting were used to collect data. Data for this study were collected between February 2021 and September 2021. Quantitative data were analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) V.25 while interview data were subjected to reflexive thematic analysis.Results47 students who are currently pursuing their doctoral research program in clinical pharmacy participated in the survey, while 8 pharmacists who had recently completed their doctoral research program in clinical pharmacy participated in the in-depth interviews. Five themes were identified: factors contributing to delay in the program, factors contributing to the timely completion of the program, ways to improve the program, advice to current students and advice to prospective students. Having more than one supervisor, supervisors’ commitment to the research work and support from the department were identified as facilitators of timely completion of doctoral research programs in clinical pharmacy.ConclusionOur study provides an understanding of the barriers and facilitators of timely completion of doctoral research programs in the clinical pharmacy specialist, and how these can be used to improve the postgraduate study programs in Nigeria

Research progress status, lead supervisor support and department support.

Research progress status, lead supervisor support and department support.</p

Sociodemographic variables of the respondents (N = 47).

Sociodemographic variables of the respondents (N = 47).</p

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A list of Themes and subthemes.

A list of Themes and subthemes.</p

Associations between the independent variables, the research status, lead supervisor support and department support.

Associations between the independent variables, the research status, lead supervisor support and department support.</p