The magnitude of prescribing medicines by brand names at Muhimbili National Hospital, Tanzania

BACKGROUND: Tanzania National Treatment Guidelines and National Therapeutic Committee circular of 2012 requires prescribers to prescribe medicines using their generic names as recommended by the World Health Organization. The implementation of the aforementioned recommendations by prescribers is not well documented in our settings. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the compliance on the use of generic names by prescribers at Muhimbili National Hospital. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital from January to May 2019 in both inpatient and outpatient pharmacy units. Data were analyzed using SPSS, version 23. Chi-square test was used to analyze proportions between the different variables of the study. A p-value for significance was <0.05. RESULTS: Of 1001 prescriptions analyzed, 71.6% contained medicines prescribed using brand names. The mean (±standard deviation (SD)) number of medicines per prescription was 2.98 (±1.5). The most frequently prescribed medicines by brand names were a combination of vitamin and mineral supplements (34.4%) followed by antibiotics (26.7%). Medical doctors (25.6%) and medical specialists (21.6%) prescribed ⩾2 medicines using brand names per prescription compared to interns (15.0%) and residents (6.9%) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Prescribing medicines using brand names was highly observed in this study. Supplements and antibiotics were among the products that were highly prescribed using their brand names. Qualitative studies to explore reasons for brand name prescribing practices are recommended.