Prescription pattern of fluoroquinolones in two selected secondary health facilities in Bayelsa State of Nigeria

Abstract

Fluoroquinolones have become the most highly prescribed antibiotics in many parts of the world. Most often, they are inappropriately prescribed. Their excessive use (empirically and for prophylaxis) in hospitals has become an issue of concern and needs to be checked. The objective of this work is to evaluate the pattern of use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in two secondary health facilities in Yenagoa and Amassoma, two prominent communities in Bayelsa State. The study was retrospectively carried out using 200 and 100 case files, respectively, randomly selected from the respective Departments of Medical Records. Relevant data were extracted from the prescriptions in the patients’ folders and used for the computation of percentages using Microsoft Excel®. The results show that fluoroquinolones were prescribed to 52 (26%) of patients out of 200 randomly selected in Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. Out of the 52 patients, 19 (36.5%) were prescribed without laboratory diagnosis, 19 (36.5%) following laboratory tests and 14 (26.9%) for surgical prophylaxis. In the General Hospital Amassoma, quinolones were prescribed to 29 (29%) of patients out of 100 randomly selected. Out of this 29 patients, 15 (51.7%) received fluoroquinolones without utilizing the medical laboratory services, while 12 (41.4%) were directed at the implicated organisms after due laboratory analysis. The remaining 2 (6.9%) had fluoroquinolones prescribed for them for medical prophylaxis. Fluoroquinolones were prescribed for different disease conditions in Federal Medical Centre in this order: typhoid 26.9%, PID 13.5%, urinary tract infection 5.8%, whereas in General Hospital, Amassoma, the order was: typhoid 31%, UTIs 20%, PID 13.8%, RTIs 10.8% and gastroenteritis 10.8%. Ciprofloxacin was the most prescribed fluoroquinolone in both hospitals evaluated. In conclusion, fluoroquinolones are inappropriately used in both hospitals.

Keywords: fluoroquinolones, prescribing pattern, secondary health facilities, medical records, Bayelsa State

Journal of Pharmaceutical and Allied Sciences Vol. 9 No. 2 (2012)