Drug utilization review of ciprofloxacin in the outpatient department of Boru Meda Hospital, South Wollo Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia -

Background: The antimicrobial agents developed during the last 60 years are among the most dramatic examples of the advances of modern medicine. Many infectious diseases once considered incurable and lethal are now amenable to treatment with a few pills. They are among the most frequently prescribed medications to day although microbial resistance due to evolutionary and misuse threatens their continued efficacy. One mechanism to ensure correct prescribing and use is drug use evaluations studies. Objective of current study is to evaluate retrospectively of ciprofloxacin use from outpatient medical records by using pre- set criteria in Boru Meda hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study on retrospectively collected data was used to evaluate ciprofloxacin use from outpatient medical history records existing from January 18, 2009 to January 17, 2010. Criteria along with thresholds set by experts for undertaking drug use evaluation for ciprofloxacin was used which is modified based on Ethiopian National Drug Formulary and Ethiopian National Standard Treatment Guideline, which are used in the hospital. Data was collected from January 18 to January 25, 2010 using appropriate data collection format. Results: Twenty six (65%) patients were in the age group of 15 to 49 years and twenty (50%) were females. Thirty eight (95%) and each of thirty seven (92.5%) cases were consistent with the Ethiopian National Standard Treatment Guideline & drug formulary regarding indication, dose & frequency of ciprofloxacin use in the outpatient department of Boru Meda hospital. 47.5% ciprofloxacin use has problem in duration of treatment . There were potential drug interactions with the drug in 40% of the cases. 10% of ciprofloxacin use was against contraindication. Conclusions: Due From the retrospective Drug Use Evaluation (DUE) study, it was identified that there was inappropriate ciprofloxacin use in the outpatient department of Boru Meda hospital even though the drug’s use regarding indications was a better performance and dosing practices were almost appropriate as per the criteria used for the study (assuming that there were no dose adjustments). There was a great problem concerning the duration of ciprofloxacin drug therapy. Ciprofloxacin use along with potentially interacting drugs and against contraindications was also another problem indicated in the study.