ANALYSIS OF THE PRESCRIBING PATTERN IN OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL
*Dr Rahul Saini (M.B.B.S, MD), Dr Prem Kumar Verma(M.B.B.S ,MD), Dr Garima Bhutani (M.B.B.S, MD), Meenu Rani (Msc Pharmacology)
ABSTRACT
Background: Prescribing medicines is an important exercise done by
doctors. Starting from writing a medication to its implementation in the
patients error can occur at any step. Among all the medication errors,
prescription errors occur very frequently. Consequences of those errors
can be lethal for patients. So it is very necessary for the doctors to
learn the art of writing prescriptions and they should be very cautious
in writing the prescriptions. The study is done so that we can find the
quantum of errors which is first step in trying to prevent them.
Methods: A total number of 400 prescriptions were randomly
collected from Bhagat phool singh govt. medical college dispensary. These were analysed
under the different headings i.e legibility and different parts of prescription i.e superscription,
inscription, subscription & transcription. Various prescribing indicators in accordance with
world health organization were also calculated. Results: Out of 400 prescriptions 66% were
legible means all aspects of prescription were clear to read without effort. Under
superscription part name, age, address, gender, date were present on more than 99% of
prescriptions where diagnosis & chief complaints were mentioned in 68.75% & 46% of the
prescriptions respectively. In 95.25% of prescriptions doctors signatures were present and in 93.25% prescriptions identification of doctors could be revealed. Symbol Rx was not written in 8.75% of the prescriptions. Use of brand drugs names, strength of medication and the frequency of administration were noticed in 37%, 42% and 65.50% of prescriptions respectively. Route of administration & dosage were mentioned in 10% & 70% of the prescriptions respectively. Conclusion: The results depict that prescription errors occur frequently and may contribute to medication error. There is need to develop standard of drug prescription and continuous sensitization of the prescribers to follow that standards.
Keywords: Prescription, Errors, Brand names, Handwriting.
[Full Text Article]
[Download Certificate]
Impact Factor : 8.181 
