The magnitude of prescribing medicines by brand names in a tertiary hospital, Mwanza, Tanzania

BACKGROUND: Globally, one of the most common causes of irrational use of medicines is brand-name prescribing. The consequence of prescribing medicines using brand names is an economic burden on patients and society. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the magnitude of prescribing medicines by brand names in a tertiary hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2020 and March 2021 at the Bugando Medical Centre. Data were collected from electronic prescriptions (outpatients) and medical files (inpatients). The data were analyzed using STATA version 14. A Chi-square test was conducted to examine the relationship between different categorical variables. p-Values of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Of 851 prescriptions analyzed, 416 (48.9%) contained medicines prescribed using brand names. Compared to outpatient units, the proportion of prescriptions with medicines prescribed by brand names in inpatient units was significantly higher (58.5% vs 39.1%), p < 0.001. The most frequently prescribed medicines by brand names were Ampiclox (ampicillin + cloxacillin), 35.2%, Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide), 8.7%, and Amoxyclav (amoxicillin + clavulanic acid), 7.7%. CONCLUSION: Prescriptions written with brand names were found to be common, especially among fixed-dose combinations (FDCs), according to the current study. Governments, institutions, and other stakeholders should support and encourage the use of generic names in prescription writing because it saves money for patients and health care systems. This calls for Tanzania’s government to prioritize the development and implementation of generic prescribing policies.