PSY40 - Periodic Supervision of Drug Prescribing and Rational Drug use Among Anemic Patients of a Developing Nation Using who Prescribing Indicators

Abstract

Assessing the quality of prescribing based on WHO indicators among subjects with iron deficiency, so as to suggest measures to improve outcomes and quality of life in clinical care setting of India. The study was a prospective cross-sectional study, conducted for a period of six months, among the anemic subjects admitted into wards of the Department of General medicine of a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore. Prescriptions of 151 in-patients fitting the study criteria were analyzed using the prescribing indicators of the WHO core drug use indicators. Analysis revealed a total of 831 drugs from 151 prescriptions. All of the prescriptions were found to have at least one iron supplement. The average number drugs per encounter was found to be 5.5. Only 6% of the drugs were found to be prescribed by generic name. Around 60% of the encounters had at least one injection and more than 37% of them contained at least one antibiotic. Only about half the prescribed drugs belonged to the National Essential Drug List. A total of 165 drug-drug interactions were seen in 111 of the 151 prescriptions. About 27% of all prescriptions showed more than one interaction. The high degree of drug prescribing among anemic subjects qualifies as poly-pharmacy, bringing into focus the increased burden and decreased quality of life among them. The prescribing practices in India are far from the standard WHO requirements. The results strongly necessitate a need for prescription by generic name and drugs from the essential drugs list. This study can be used as a basis for formulating policies in order to monitor and promote rational prescribing to improve the quality of life in anemic patients.