Abstract:

Background Information: The rising of global consumption of antibacterial contribute to antibacterial resistance. However, antibacterial Stewardship programme have not been widely implemented in most of hospital settings. This study was conducted to determine the prescription pattern and consumption of antibacterial drugs prescribed in inpatients at Sumve Designated District Hospital (SDDH), Mwanza, Tanzania.

Methodology: A hospital based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted during the period of October 2019 to September 2020 at SDDH.

Results: Overall, 652 patient files were reviewed, 58.4% were female and the remaining 41.6% were male. Antibacterial were prescribed to 425 (65.2%) patients, with mean (±SD) antibacterial per patient of 1.7(±0.8) antibacterial, of which sensitivity test results were not available to all of the medical records reviewed. All of the antibacterial prescribed were included in the National Essential Medicines List of Tanzania Mainland and prescription with generic names were to 345 (81.2%) of the total medical records reviewed. More than half of the antibacterial courses prescribed, 394 (53.7%) were of oral dosage forms. The total antibacterial consumption for inpatients was 66.5 DDD/100 BD.

Conclusion: All of the antibacterial prescribed were included in the National Essential Medicines List for Tanzania Mainland and about one fifth were prescribed with brand names. Sensitivity tests records were unavailable to all of the medical records reviewed. There is a need to understand associated factors to the prescription practice observed at SDDH