European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ASSESSMENT OF PRESCRIBING PATTERN WITH WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION PRESCRIBING INDICATORS IN OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENTS OF A TERTIARY TEACHING HOSPITAL IN EASTERN INDIA: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Anjan Adhikari*, Arijit Ghosh, Rania Indu, Srijita Ghosh, Santosh Banik and Subhajit Paul

ABSTRACT

Objective: Scientific and rational prescription is essential as far as safety and efficacy are concerned. Thus prescription writing is an important part of medical treatment. Prescription audit is thus needed to regulate and overview the quality of prescriptions. Present study aimed to evaluate the quality of prescription of Out Patient Departments (OPDs) of a tertiary care hospital, following standard parameters. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational study conducted with prior permission from administration as well as Institutional Ethical Committee. A total of 100 prescriptions from different Out Patient Departments (OPDs) of a medical college were collected for two days and then evaluated. Results: Present study observed 100% of the prescriptions contained identification of health facility, prescribers and patients. Signature of prescriber and date in prescriptions were evident in all the prescriptions. 93% of the drugs were prescribed by generic name and Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) was prescribed in 22% of the cases. All the prescriptions contained abbreviations. The average number of drugs prescribed per prescription was 2.9. Number of antibiotic per prescription was 0.05. 90% drugs were prescribed from Essential Drug List (EDL). Conclusion: It was observed that the prescription quality of OPD of the health facility was good. However, use of abbreviations in prescription must be reduced. Prescription audits must be conducted at regular interval, in order to improve the quality of treatment.

Keywords: Audit, Drugs, Fixed Dose Combination, Outpatient Department, Prescription.