Assessment of private health sector prescribing patterns and adherence to prescription format using World Health Organization core drug use indicators in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The study findings indicated prescribing and prescription completeness indicators all considerably deviated from WHO standards and hence unsuitable. This situation could be critical since a similar pattern is reported from public healthcare sectors, which might imply the extent of non-adherence to WHO core drug use standards. Consequently, it could play a considerable role in increasing irrational medicine use in Ethiopia.