The Frequency of Prescribing Nicotine and Varenicline in a Public Hospital

Aim: This study was conducted to demonstrate the prescribing pattern of nicotine and varenicline in a public hospital in Alkharj.

Methodology: This is a retrospective study includes evaluating outpatient prescribing of nicotine and varenicline from 1st of January 2018 to 30th of June 2018 in a public hospital in Alkharj.

Results: All of the nicotine patch prescriptions were written by internal medicine department and all of the prescriptions were prescribed by residents. The age of more than half of them was between 30 and 39 (53.33%). All of the varenicline tablet prescriptions were written by internal medicine department. The age of about 88.23% of the patients who received varenicline tablet was more than 29 years.

Conclusion: Nicotine and varenicline prescribing was infrequent in Al-kharj. More awareness programs are needed for health care workers and for the public. Moreover, the physicians should assess if the treatment is needed or no according to the person condition.