Analysis of antimicrobial and psychotropic prescriptions in the central medication unit of the city of Guaramirim (Santa Catarina State - Brazil) / Análise de prescrições de antimicrobianos e psicotrópicos na unidade central de medicamentos da cidade de Guaramirim (Estado de Santa Catarina - Brasil)

Abstract

The doctor’s prescription defines the patient’s treatment. In order to use medicine within maximum efficacy and minimum toxicity parameters, the prescription must be properly filled and readable. Although specific laws are applied to guide prescription elaboration, errors persist, and depending on its nature, they may cause from lack of efficacy to adverse effects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of prescriptions for psychotropic and antimicrobial drugs dispensed by the central pharmacy of the city of Guaramirim, Santa Catarina state, from February 1 to April 30, 2019. A total of 3,780 prescriptions were analyzed, 3,388 of psychotropic drugs and 392 of antimicrobials. The most frequent errors found were omission of telephone number, and address of patients and physicians. Regarding the drugs prescribed, it was observed lack of information on dose, route, and quantity of the drugs, and also the frequent presence of non-standard abbreviations. Most prescriptions were readable, but despite typed prescriptions may solve illegibility issues, which did not reach homogeneously data omission, and it is essential that pharmacists position themselves so as not to dispense wrong prescriptions and that patients demand greater clarification of the prescription at the time of consultation.