Drug prescribing in paediatric in-patients at Harare and Parirenyatwa Central Hospitals.

Two-hundred-and-fifty records were examined at Harare and 250 at Parirenyatwa Central Hospitals over a six-month period to investigate drug prescribing patterns for paediatric in-patients. The majority of the patients were between one to three years and weighed 6 to 7,9 kg. A total of 1 725 prescriptions were received by these patients with an average of 3,45, (range = 0-18 drugs) per patient. The most frequency used pharmacological groups at both hospitals were anti-infectives (51 pc), intravenous fluids and supplements (22 pc) and analgesics (10,6 pc)