Introduction: Skin diseases are the major contributors of disease burden in society. Dermatological therapy ultimate goal is achieved by administering the safest and least number of drugs. The problem gets compounded with the inappropriate and irrational use of medicines. Therefore, periodic prescription audit in the form of prescribing patterns is away to improve irrational prescription. The objective of this study to assess the prescription patterns of dermatological agents in Borumeda hospital. Method: Hospital based retrospective cross sectional study in which prescribing patterns of dermatological agents are assessed. A total of 385 samples of patient record prescription from November/1/2016 to December/30/2016, and the sample were selected by systematic random sampling technique. Sample prescriptions were reviewed using structural data collection format. The Collected data was analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Result: Regarding rout of administration, the maximum number of drugs was prescribed topically (66.2%). Topical steroids were the most commonly prescribed drugs (25.3%). Use of generic prescribing in single drug prescribing was 81.7%. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis was higher (26.3%, 20.8%) in both male and female respectively followed by scabies in male with 12.2% and Acne vulgaris (12.9%) in female. Number of drugs per prescription was higher (2.46) than WHO standard (<2). Conclusion: The current study reveals that topical corticosteroids were commonly prescribed drugs in the dermatology unit and the prescribing practice imitates incidence of polypharmacy.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is common in Ethiopia, but the national guideline does not offer specific treatment recommendations. Consequently, different treatment regimens are used throughout the country, without quality evidence. In Boru Meda Hospital, sodium stibogluconate (SSG) is routinely used combined with allopurinol for systemic CL treatment, although evidence on effectiveness is lacking. An observational cohort study was done to document clinical treatment outcomes in patients receiving SSG/allopurinol at the end of each 28-day treatment cycle and after 180 days. Patient-reported outcomes were assessed by asking patients to rate lesion severity and by the dermatological life quality index. A total of 104 patients were included. After one treatment cycle only four patients were clinically cured, although patient-reported outcomes significantly improved. The majority (88) of patients were appointed for a second treatment cycle, of which only 37 (42%) came. Among 36 patients who came for final outcome assessment, 50% was cured. Follow-up and treatment was severely affected by conflict; drug stockouts and insufficient ward capacity for treatment were additional challenges. Treatment outcomes of SSG/allopurinol were relatively poor, and most patients required more than a month of treatment. Shortage of drugs and beds indicates the existing gaps in providing CL treatment in Ethiopia.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is common in Ethiopia, but the national guideline does not offer specific treatment recommendations. Consequently, different treatment regimens are used in the country, without quality evidence. In Boru Meda Hospital, sodium stibogluconate (SSG) is routinely used in combination with allopurinol for systemic CL treatment, although evidence on its effectiveness is limited. An observational cohort study was carried out to document clinical treatment outcomes in patients receiving SSG/allopurinol at the end of each 28-day treatment cycle and after 180 days. Patient-reported outcomes were assessed by asking patients to rate lesion severity, and by the dermatological life quality index. A total of 104 patients were included. After one treatment cycle, only four patients were clinically cured, although patient-reported outcomes significantly improved. The majority (88) of patients were appointed for a second treatment cycle, of whom only 37 (42%) attended. Among the 36 patients who came for final outcome assessment, 50% were cured. Follow-up and treatment were severely affected by conflict; drug stock-outs and insufficient ward capacity for treatment were additional challenges. The treatment outcomes of SSG/allopurinol were relatively poor, and most patients required more than one cycle of treatment. Shortages of drugs and beds indicate the existing gaps in providing CL treatment in Ethiopia.