A prospective assessment of antimicrobial agents utilization pattern in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: The antimicrobial resistance is increasing globally and, concurrently, downward trend in development of newer antibiotics is leading to a serious public health problem and economic consequences.Methods: Prescriptions with at least one antimicrobial were included in the study. A total of 242 prescriptions were included in the study. The antimicrobials were classified into different classes based on WHO-ATC classification.Results: A total of 281 antimicrobials prescribed in 242 prescriptions with an average of 1.16 per prescription. In most of the prescriptions, 1 antimicrobial were prescribed (88.43%). The routes of the antimicrobial administration were mostly oral 268 (95.37%) followed by injectable 13 (4.63%). The most commonly prescribed classes of antimicrobial in this study were antibacterials for systemic use (J01) (74.02%) followed by antimycobacterials (J04) (13.88%), antiparasitic drugs (P) (8.19%), antimycotics for systemic use (J02) (2.49%) and antivirals for systemic use (J05) (1.42%). Among antibacterials, the most commonly prescribed classes of antibacterial was various antibacterial FDCs (19.22%), followed by quinolones (18.86%), macrolides (18.15%), β-lactams (11.03%) cephalosporins (6.76%), penicillins (4.27%), aminoglycosides (2.84%), metronidazole (1.78%), clindamycin (1.78%) and tetracycline (0.36%). The total percentage of antimicrobials prescribed as Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) were 32.38%.Conclusions: The present study has reported that most commonly prescribed antimicrobials were quinolones followed by macrolides and β-lactams. Recommendations to change the ongoing prescribing practices should be based on the Standard Treatment Guidelines, EDL and Antibiotic policy or by following the information, education, and communication (IEC) interventions.