Knowledge, attitude, and practice of ‘P-drug concept’ among postgraduate residents and interns in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Maharashtra

Abstract

Background: A P-drug is a clinician’s personal or preferred or priority choice drug. The study aims to evaluate the knowledge, awareness, and practice of P-drug, which helps postgraduates to prescribe medicines rationally. The objective of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the P-drug concept among postgraduate students at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: The study is a prospective, cross-sectional pre-validated questionnaire-based study conducted in the tertiary care teaching hospital. A total of 300 postgraduates, interns and consultants from Tertiary care teaching hospital from Maharashtra were enrolled and instructed to fill the questionnaire. These filled forms were collected, and data was analyzed. Results: Out of 300 members, 233 filled the questionnaire, and these forms are evaluated. About 49.7% among them are aware of P-drug, 43.4% are aware of P-treatment, 28.4% are not including fixed-dose combinations in their P-drug list, 42% are aware of the advantages of prescribing P-drug, and 48.4% felt that teaching programs are needed for preparing P-drug list. Conclusions: The P-drug concept is requisite for improving the quality of health care and practicing rational use of medicine. As only a few studies have been conducted on the P-drug idea in this institute, the institutional teaching review board should run teaching programs regarding the P-drug concept.