Abstract

Purpose: Rational drug use (RDU) promotes safe, efficient, and cost-effective utilization of medicines in hospital settings. The aim of
this study was to assess rational drug use based on the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Network for Rational
Use of Drugs (INRUD) core drug use indicators.
Patients and Methods: This prospective, descriptive, hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among patients attending
the Outpatient Department of a secondary care hospital located in the Sheema District of Western Uganda. A total of 450 prescriptions
were prospectively collected from eligible patients and subjected to evaluation by using the WHO/INRUD core drug use indicators
(prescribing, patient care, and health-facility indicators).
Results: The average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was found to be 3.2 (optimal value=1.6–1.8). The percentages of
drugs prescribed by their generic name (90.48%) and from the Essential Medicine List (96.23%) were close to the WHO reference
(100%). The percentage of antibiotics (66.22%) and injections (25.22%) per encounter exceeded the WHO standards (antibiotics=20.0–
26.8; injections=13.4–24.1). Among the patient-care indicators, the average consultation time (5.41 minutes), average dispensing
time (131.03 seconds), percentage of medicines dispensed (76.11%), percentage of medicines adequately labeled (59.74%), and
percentage of patients with dosage knowledge (49.50%) did not meet the WHO reference. Facility indicators such as the percentage of
key medicines available in the stock (66.67%) did not conform to the WHO optimal value. The hospital made the EML
hundred percent available to all practitioners.