STUDY OF DRUG UTILIZATION PATTERN FOR SKIN DISEASES IN DERMATOLOGY IPD IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL, SALEM
Dr. R. Kothai*, Dr. E. Manivannan, Dr. B. Arul, Rosemol Geo, Seby Mathew and Shelty Poulose
ABSTRACT
Background: Skin diseases are the major contributors of disease burden in society which affects individuals of all ages. The problems get compounded with inappropriate and irrational use of medicines. Periodic auditing of prescriptions in the form of drug utilization studies is important to enhance the therapeutic efficacy, to minimize the adverse effect, to optimize the cost of the treatment and to provide useful feedback to the clinician. Methods: Prospective analysis of 150 patients admitted in the Dermatology department over a period of six months from November 2015 to April 2016 in VMKVMCH, Salem, Tamil Nadu for analyzing the drug use pattern, drug-drug interactions and ADR in the prescriptions. The prescriptions were analyzed using descriptive statistics and results were expressed in percentage. Results: A total of 842 drugs were prescribed and the average number of drugs per prescription was found to be 5.7± 1.8. The studies showed that Antihistamines (20.8%) were the most commonly prescribed drugs and the most common disease was Psoriasis (19.33%). When drug-drug interactions were checked via Medscape online Drug Interaction checker, 79 were found. Overall incidence of ADR was found to be 2 out of 150 cases. Conclusion: The therapy provided was efficacious but there is a need to emphasize to all prescribers to adhere to the prescription format and to keep the average number of drugs per prescription as low as possible. There is a clear need for the development of standard treatment guidelines and educational initiatives to encourage the rational and appropriate drug use.
Keywords: Drug utilization, Dermatology, ADR.
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