European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A STUDY ON VARIOUS SKIN DISEASES AND PRESCRIBING PATTERN IN DERMATOLOGY OPD OF A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

R. Gayathri, R. Shivani, Razia Ansari* and Rida Fathima

ABSTRACT

Skin diseases are a common morbidity in all ages, irrespective of gender. Some of them may be a minor while some may be life- threatening. Many of the skin infections were contributed by negligence, poor personal hygiene. Instructions on self-care and hygiene would be very useful in most of the patients to reduce the skin related problems. Drug utilization study is an effective tool to promote rational drug prescribing. Causes of irrational use of drugs include lack of knowledge, skills or independent information, unrestricted availability of medicines, inappropriate promotion of medicines. A standard tool to measure the severity of the disease and to evaluate the condition of the patient helps us to improve the health-related quality of life. Using such a tool makes a study more accurate and effective to predict the results. Methodology: A Prospective study was conducted in the OPD in Dermatology ward for a period of 6 months. A sample of 106 was considered and were evaluated for the study. The study was executed at Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar. Results: Our study constituted 106 subjects out of which (52.8%) were males and (47.2%) were females where male preponderance for dermatological diseases was higher. The age group 21-30 were found to be maximum. The patients of low status were found to be the highest prone to infections. Infective diseases were more common than non-infective and 35.8% of fungal diseases were found. Prescribing pattern was analyzed and anti- histamines were the most prescribed drug among the population. QoL was assessed by using Dermatology Life Quality Index. Furthermore, the effect of various skin diseases on the QoL of patients was significant. Conclusion: The prevention of skin diseases necessitates a need for better health education, improved hygiene and good living standards. Public resources should make people aware of skin diseases and their preventive measures. So that we can reduce the burden of skin diseases in our society. Although most of the drugs were prescribed rationally, involvement of Clinical Pharmacist in patient care may help in every aspect. According to the analyzed results and theconclusions made are; skin disease in one of the major health issues which affects the daily livelihood of human kind. Assessment of drug usage and quality of life will bring awareness with respect to diseases and improve the quality of life.

Keywords: Skin diseases, Out-Patient department, Prescribing pattern, Clinical Pharmacist, Quality of life.