An-Najah Staff

The objective of this study is to do a pharmotherapeutic analysis of NSAIDs prescriptions for patients attending rheumatology and orthopedic clinic. There were 326 prescriptions of NSAIDs for 307 patients (41.3% male, 48.6% female; 83.7% of patients were > 60 years old). The three most commonly prescribed NSAIDs were diclofenac (~40%), indomethacin (~30%) and naproxen (~28%). Duplication of oral/topical NSAIDs was found. Selective COX-2 inhibitors (coxibs) were found in ~ 18% of the prescriptions. Gastro protective agents were co- prescribed with NSAIDs in ~8% of the prescriptions that belong to 24 patients. Prescription database indicate that (1) patients are being treated with unnecessary multiple NSAID medications, (2) with high doses are being used in most cases and (3) finally gastroprotective co-therapy strategies are being under-utilized.