World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

DRUG PRESCRIPTION PATTERN IN OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENTS OF TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL, KANPUR

Dr. Virendra Kushwaha, Dr. Pooja Agrawal*, Dr. Pradeep Kumar, Dr. Mohd Aamir and Dr. Sarthak Goel

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Drug Prescription is an art of Medical Science that when correctly performed will deliver relief to patients with all his/her ailments. More than 50% of all medicines worldwide are prescribed, dispensed, and sold inappropriately and 50% of patients fail to take them correctly. Drug use prescribing indicators advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO) are important tools for assessing the degree of polypharmacy and use of generic medicines, and to evaluate if there is inappropriate use of antibiotics or parenteral medications. This study aimed to study the pattern of drug prescription at the medical outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary care hospital, in Kanpur, India. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among patients who attended consultations in OPDs of various departments. 110 patients drug prescriptions were randomly chosen and drug prescription pattern was analyzed by using WHO prescribing indicators. Results: A total of 110 prescriptions were analyzed and the average number of drugs per prescription was 3.88. Amongst the prescribing indicators, generic prescribing was low (31.6%). In contrast, antibiotic prescribing and prescription of injections was 63.6% and 10.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the prescription of the drugs enlisted in the essential drugs list was determined to be 91.1%. Conclusion: This study has delineated the requirements for pertinent changes in current prescribing trends in a tertiary care hospital. There is a need to increase generic prescribing and augment the adherence of prescriptions to the essential drugs.

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