Purpose: To assess potentially inappropriate medication (PIMs) prescribing pattern in geriatric patients attending the outpatient department (OPD) of the General Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: The study was conducted retrospectively for geriatric patients sixty years of age and above, who visited an Outpatient Department of Tirunesh Beijing General Hospital. Data were gathered for a duration of one month from prescriptions/encounters at the Outpatient Pharmacy, and analysis was carried out using SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences) version 20, while and drug prescribing indicators, and potentially inappropriate medications were calculated based on WHO prescribed indicators and Beer’s criteria. Results: Of the 400 encounters assessed, 218 (55 %) were male and 182 (45 %) were female. Four hundred prescriptions contained 1,003 drugs. Out of the mean drug per prescription of 2.51, drugs prescribed by generic names were 91.62 %, those prescribed from NLEM (national list of essential medicine) were 91.53 %; prescriptions with an antibiotic injection were 27.75 % and 16.25% respectively, and more than 5 drugs were prescribed only for 10.8 % of geriatrics patients. Cardiovascular drugs constituted about a quarter of the prescribed medications with 271 (27.02 %); others were analgesics, anti-inflammatory, anti-infective, endocrine drugs, gastrointestinal drugs, and other drugs, accounting for 116 (11.6%), 112 (11.2%), 96 (9.6%), 94 (9.4%) and 187 (18.6%), respectively. Potentially inappropriate drugs occurred in 46.9 % of the cases. Conclusion: Potentially inappropriate medication (PIMs) prescribing in geriatric is highest in percentage. Proper interventions are needed from all concerned bodies to avoid drug-related complications.
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