EVALUATION OF DRUG USE PATTERN USING WHO PRESCRIBING INDICATORS

Abstract

Medicines are essential requirements for the optimal care of patients. Appropriate use of medicine is an essential element in delivering quality of life for patients and the community as a whole. The aim of this study was to assess the prescription patterns, rationality of analgesics and frequency of antibiotic use at the hospital, using WHO core drug use indicators. A total of 40 prescriptions were collected from a teaching hospital in South India. The majority of patients were male 26 (65%), with female representing 14 (35%) from surgery department, over a period of 2 months, among 40 prescriptions a total of 246 drugs were found. The average number of drugs per encounter was 6.15, 11 drugs (4.4%) were prescribed by generic name, 56 drugs (22.7%) were antibiotics, 55 drugs (22.3%) were analgesics, 176 (71.5%) were injectable preparations. All the medicines encountered during the study was found to be prescribed from Essential Drug List. 11 Analgesics (20%) were found to be irrational. Most commonly used Antibiotic was Metronidazole (13times). Frequency of antibiotic use was 0.2. Most commonly used Analgesic was Diclofenac (22times). Frequency of analgesic use was 0.4 .Concurrent administration of Antibiotic was found to be 19. From the study irrational prescribing patterns were identified.