Abstract
Aims: The present study was carried out to describe the patterns of prescription and drug use in Ophthalmology outpatients at GG hospital, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. Methods: Total of 600 patients were included during 3 months duration and average number of drugs per encounter, percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name, percentage of encounters with antibiotics prescribed, percentage of encounters with an injection prescribed, percentage of drugs prescribed from the WHO Essential Drug List 2015, number of fixed dose combinations prescribed and percentage of antimicrobial agents prescribed were analyzed. Results: Prescription analysis showed that the average number of drugs per prescription was 3.20%. Eye drops were the most commonly prescribed (66.8%) dosage form, followed by ointment (18.4%), capsules (8.66%) and tablets (6%). Dosage forms were recorded in 99.2% drugs, information about the frequency of drug administration was present in 96% of the drugs and duration of therapy was recorded in 84.7% of the drugs prescribed. The drug classes that were used most frequently were Antibiotics (45%), Ocular lubricants (24.7%), NSAIDS (17.4%) and Anti-allergy medications (8.1%). Conclusion: Common prescription errors were minimum. However polypharmacy was common.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined drug utilization research as the marketing, distribution, prescription, and use of drugs in a society, with special emphasis on the resulting medical, social and economic consequences.[1]
Drug utilization studies are good tools to ascertain the role of drugs in the society
[3] Irrational use of drugs and dosage forms result in potential adverse effects to the patients and cause financial burden
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined drug utilization research as the marketing, distribution, prescription, and use of drugs in a society, with special emphasis on the resulting medical, social and economic consequences.[1] Drug utilization studies are good tools to ascertain the role of drugs in the society. They provide a socio-medical and economic basis for making healthcare decisions. Important criteria for rational drug use are accurate diagnosis, proper prescribing, correct dispensing, suitable packing and patient adherence. [4] To improve the overall drug use, especially in developing countries, international agencies like World Health Organization (WHO) have given standard drug use indicators. [5] These indicators help doctors to know the shortcomings in prescription writing and allow to improve performance from time to time
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
