WHO/INRUD prescribing indicators among tertiary regional referral hospitals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a call to strengthen antibiotic stewardship programmes

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic prescribing should be guided by national essential medicines lists (NEMLs) and treatment guidelines; however, there are inadequate data on antibiotic utilization patterns in tertiary hospitals in Tanzania. This study aimed to determine antibiotic prescribing patterns in tertiary hospitals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in three regional referral hospitals. About 200 prescription records from 2020 to 2022 were analysed at each hospital for prescribing patterns using WHO/ International Network of Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) indicators (1993) and the AWaRe 2021 classification. Factors associated with receiving an antibiotic prescription were assessed using a logistic regression model. Facilities were ranked on prescribing practices using the index of rational drug prescribing (IRDP). RESULTS: A total of 2239 drugs were prescribed, of which 920 (41.1%) were antibiotics. An average of 3.7 ± 1.5 (optimal: 1.6–1.8) total medicines and 1.53 ± 0.78 antibiotics were prescribed per patient. About 88.0% (528) of the prescriptions contained antibiotics (optimal: 20.0%–26.8%), while 78.2% (413) of all antibiotic prescriptions contained injections (optimal: 13.4%–24.1%). Furthermore, 87.5% (462) of the antibiotics were prescribed in generic names (optimal: 100%), while 98.7% (521) conformed to the NEML (optimal: 100%). Metronidazole was the most frequently prescribed antibiotic (39.2%; n = 134), followed by ceftriaxone (37.1%, n = 127) and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (8.5%, n = 29). CONCLUSIONS: We found substantial empirical prescribing and overuse of antibiotics exceeding WHO recommendations. Antibiotic overuse varied across the hospitals. Being male, having underlying conditions such as diabetes mellitus, and/or being treated at Temeke hospital were associated with receiving an antibiotic prescription. We recommend strengthening antibiotic stewardship programmes in the studied facilities.