Rational: Studies conducted showed that there were gaps regarding the rational use of medicines (RUM).
Aims and objectives: Evaluate RUM in main government hospitals in four emirates in UAE, using WHO prescribing indicators.
Method: Multicenter prospective cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in 4 hospitals in 4 different Emirates in UAE. Using consecutive random sampling method, a total of 1100 prescriptions (2741 prescribed drugs) were collected and analyzed from surveyed hospitals from April to October 2012. Index of RATIONAL Drug Prescribing (IRDP) was used as an indicator of RUM.
Results: The main finding of this study was that, the mean values of prescribing indicators of RUM in the surveyed hospitals were estimated to be within the WHO optimal values for generics (100.0 vs. 100.0), antibiotics (9.8 ± 4.8 vs. ⩽30), injections (3.14 ± 1.7 vs. ⩽10) and formulary (EML) prescribing (100.0 vs. 100.0). However, the only discrepancy was reported regarding the number of drugs per prescription which was found to be more than the WHO optimal value (2.49 ± 0.9 vs. ⩽2); respectively. The mean IRDP was 4.55 which was less than the WHO optimal value of 5.
Conclusions: Strategies and interventions are desirable to promote RUM and minimize the consequences of poly-pharmacy.
Keywords: Drugs; Essential medicine list (EML); Prescribing indicators; Rational use of medicine (RUM).