An audit of prescription for rational use of fixed dose drug combinations at a tertiary care dental setting

Abstract

This study aimed to study about the rationality of various fixed dose combinations prescribed at a tertiary care dental setting, in Jaipur. After taking permission from the Institutional Ethical Committee, total 1654 prescriptions from all the clinical departments of the Rajasthan Dental College from December 2013 to September 2014 were analyzed. Our study revealed that 69.1% of the prescriptions contained fixed dose combinations, out of which majority of prescription (66.75%) had rational fixed dose combinations. Only 33.24% prescriptions had irrational fixed dose combinations. The average number of fixed dose combinations per prescription was 1.03. All the fixed dose combinations were prescribed by their brand names. 55.6% of the fixed dose combinations were prescribed by the oral route. The majority (37.1%) of the prescribed irrational fixed dose combinations were ofloxacin and ornidazole combinations, followed by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory combinations (24.7%). This study highlights the importance and need of awareness programs focusing on the deleterious consequences related to irrational use of medicines to ensure that the prescriber’s knowledge and skills to prescribe rationally is updated frequently.