Medication prescribing pattern in pediatric diarrhea with focus on zinc supplements

Abstract

Objective: To analyse medication prescribing pattern in paediatric diarrhoea with emphasis on zinc supplements. Methods: This was a prospective, observational, cross-sectional study carried out in a tertiary care teaching hospital after approval of the institutional ethics committee. Prescriptions of 200 patients attending the paediatric OPD and those admitted in paediatric wards were analyzed to get the following details: demographic characteristics: age, gender, weight, diagnosis; medication details: medicines prescribed, dose/strength, frequency, duration; prescription of zinc supplements: Salt, dose, frequency, duration; any precautions/instructions about medicine use. Results: It was observed that 184 (92%) out of 200 patients were prescribed ORS. Sixty-four percent of the prescriptions contained antimicrobials. Cotrimoxazole was the most frequently prescribed antimicrobial (57.81%). No fixed dose combination(FDC) of antimicrobials was prescribed. More than 90% of the prescriptions mentioned the dosage form, frequency of administration and duration of treatment and 97.95% of the drugs were prescribed by generic names. Zinc supplements (Zinc gluconate) were prescribed in only 27 patients (13.5%) out of 200. Conclusion: Inadequate prescribing of zinc supplements is a matter of concern, the causes of which need to be investigated. It appears that use of zinc in pediatric diarrhea can be increased through existing infrastructure by training and information, education and communication activities. After the prescribers are trained and convinced the next measure would be ensuring easy availability, affordability and accessibility of zinc