QUALITY OF PRESCRIPTIONS RECEIVED BY PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION ATTENDING A SECONDARY HEALTH FACILITY IN IBADAN, OYO STATE.

Background: High-quality prescription (HQP) which is a key player in optimal blood pressure control reflects good prescribing process and thus quality health care.

Aims: To determine quality of prescription and its correlates in patients with hypertension attending a secondary health facility in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Methodology: A cross-sectional hospital-based study among 347 known hypertensive patients attending the Medical Outpatient clinic of Jericho Specialist hospital, Ibadan. Quality of prescription was determined using prescription quality index (PQI) tool and it was categorized into high, medium and low-quality prescriptions. The respondents were recruited using a simple random sampling technique (computer generated random number). Data was analyzed using SPSS version 2020. Mean, standard deviation, Chi-square and Spearman correlation were used for data analysis and level of significant was set at <0.05.

Results: The mean (PQI) was 31.4±5.6; less than half of the patients 163 (47.3%) had low PQI, while medium and high PQI was found in 41(11.8%) and 143 (41.2%) patients respectively. There was a significant difference in the quality of prescriptions between male and female hypertensive patients (χ²=15.85, p-value<0.0001). Two-thirds of the patients, 229(66.0%) experienced associated health problems and this was significantly inversely correlated with prescription quality (r=-0.33, p<0.001).

Conclusion: The study revealed marginally low quality of prescription, statistically significant poor-quality prescription among the male patients and higher number of comorbidities significantly correlated negatively with prescribing quality. Thus, to comply with high quality prescriptions, combined medications among hypertensive patients with comorbidities should be used cautiously.