Awareness and use of tools to identify potentially inappropriate prescribing among physicians and pharmacists in Saudi Arabia: a nationwide cross-sectional study

Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) contributes significantly to treatment burden, specifically in older people. Detecting PIP and improving prescribing practices are therefore crucial for ensuring patient safety and positive outcomes.

This study aimed to assess physicians’ and pharmacists’ awareness and use of tools to identify PIP, as well as their confidence in recommending medication for older people.

A national cross-sectional survey was conducted in Saudi Arabia using a 15-item questionnaire. The online questionnaire covered participants’ demographics, their experience with PIP tools including awareness, frequency of use and the type of resources utilized. Both open-ended and closed-ended questions were included, with closed-ended questions formatted as multiple-choice and Likert scale. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses of the data was undertaken using Stata version 16.

A total of 271 participants completed the questionnaire, half (n = 138, 50.9%) were pharmacists. Only a third (n = 81, 29.9%) of participants were familiar with PIP tools. Providers focusing on older people were significantly more aware of PIP tools (p < 0.001). Significantly more pharmacists (n = 50, 36.2%) demonstrated an awareness of PIP tools compared to physicians (n = 31, 23.3%) (p = 0.02). Confidence in recommending appropriate medications for older people varied, with 43.9% of participants having moderate confidence.

This study highlights the lack of awareness among physicians and pharmacists in Saudi Arabia regarding the validated PIP tools to support prescribing and medication management practices. There is a need to develop, disseminate and support the use of translated, validated and culturally appropriate PIP tools in this context.