A cross-sectional analysis of the association between age and gender and prescribed minimum benefit chronic disease list conditions among South Africans with concomitant hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia.

Background: Prescribed Minimum Benefit Chronic Disease List (PMB CDL) conditions are a regulated list of conditions most common to South Africa.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and association between PMB CDL conditions and age and gender among patients with concomitant hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia.

Methods: The study population consisted of patients (n = 17 866) with a prescription containing at least one co-prescribed antilipemics, antihypertensive and antidiabetic (identified using the MIMS Desk Reference).

Assessment of the Appropriateness of Antibiotic Prescriptions in Lesotho Public Hospitals: A Novel Methodology Based on Principles of Antibiotic Prescribing.

The study primarily aimed at assessing the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions in a section of public health institutions in Lesotho using an assessment tool formulated from principles of antibiotic prescribing. Relevant data on procedures of infection diagnosis and prescribed antibiotics were collected from both inpatient and outpatient case reports for a one-month period in five public hospitals in Lesotho. These were analyzed for the appropriateness of the prescribed antibiotics.

The Impact of Appropriate Antibiotic Prescribing on Treatment Evaluation Parameters.

The therapeutic impact of inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics is debatable, particularly in situations where infections are treated empirically with multiply prescribed antibiotics. Prescribers may remain under the illusion that such prescriptions are appropriate on the basis of any observed positive treatment outcomes, even though an antibiotic prescribed in such combination therapy may actually be infective against infecting pathogens. This, inevitably, promotes inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.