Akoria O A, Isah A O.
An evaluation of doctors’ prescribing performance in nigeria.
Pak J Med Sci Jan ;25(4):533-8.

Objective: To assess prescribing indicators and describe influences on doctors’ prescribing in Nigeria Methodology: Doctors’ prescriptions from eight public and nine private hospitals were surveyed, and the WHO prescribing indicators calculated. Age, sex, academic background, drug information sources, access to the National Essential Medicines List and the strongest influence(s) on prescribing were evaluated. Data were analysed using SPSS. Results: Eight hundred thirty three prescriptions from 28 doctors were assessed. Age and working experience were 38.8 ± 8.1 and 13.4 ± 8.4 years respectively. Pharmaceutical representatives were the most popular sources of drug information; influences during internship contributed most to current prescribing. Average number of drugs per encounter and percent encounters with injections were higher in private hospitals (3.96, p = 0.01; 38.51; p = 0.01 respectively); doctors aged >40 years prescribed more antibiotics (% encounters with antibiotics 52.63; p = 0.03). Conclusion: Pharmaceutical detailing is an important influence on doctors’ prescribing and the internship is a critical and vulnerable period. Both should be targeted in interventions to improve prescribing.

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