Medication Prescription in Children: Assessment of Pattern and Completeness in a Tertiary Healthcare Facility in Kwara, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The most common approach for treating pediatric illness in clinical settings is the 
use of medication. Children's prescription drug patterns and completeness, however, have not 
received enough research attention. In order to raise prescription standards and lessen the issues 
brought on by irrational prescription and usage of medication, it is critical to assess these trends. 
Objectives: The study's objective was to evaluate the pattern and completeness of pediatric 
pharmaceutical prescriptions using the WHO prescribing indicators. 
Methods: It was a six-month retrospective study of prescriptions (1st January, 2022 to 30th June 
2022).A total of 705 prescriptions were collected from the pharmacy section of the pediatrics 
outpatient department. A validated data capture form was used for the study following the WHO 
prescribing indicator guideline. These indicators were examined, analyzed, and compared to the 
standard advised by the WHO. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data. 
Results: In our study, we discovered that every prescription indicator evaluated fell short of the 
WHO recommendation. 3.28 medications on average were prescribed per patient. The 
percentages of encounters with injections, antibiotics, and other medications by generic name 
were 57.4%, 77.2%, and 75.6%, respectively. 43.6% of the medications prescribed came from 
the list of essential medicine. 
We deduced that all prescriptions for medications were incomplete and that the indicators of 
drug usage did not follow the WHO recommendation. Therefore, we proposed that programs or 
initiatives that will promote rational prescription and use of medicines should be instituted.