ASSESSMENT OF PRESCRIPTION PATTERN AT PAEDIATRIC OUTPATIENT CLINIC
Sandipkumar Bhatt*, Avani Patel, Kaushal Prajapati, Rudri Joshi, Milli Patel and Chintan Patel
Abstract
Background: Drug therapy is considered to be main element of
paediatrics health care management. MCI finalized Model prescription
format for making prescription. WHO prescribing pattern studies are
helpful in exploring the commonly used groups of drugs,
polypharmacy, drugs prescribed by generic names and drugs
prescribing from National List of Essential Medicine. The aim of this
study is to study and assess prescription pattern at outpatient paediatric
clinics. Method: It was a Multicentric, Observational, Prospective
study conducted for a time period of 6 months. The study sample
included 962 valid prescriptions of 962 valid pediatric OPD presenting
to four pediatric patient clinics in two cities of Gujarat. Confirmed
errors in the prescriptions were reviewed and analyzed. Results: Out
of 962 prescriptions of 962 patients average number of drugs per prescription was 2.66
drugs/prescription. Out of 962 paediatric outpatients, 538 were male patients (55.93%) and
424 were female patients (44.07%). Mean age of subjects was 2.9 years. Out of 2559 drugs,
52 (2.03%) drugs were prescribed by generic name, 422 (16.49%) antibiotics, 46 (1.79%)
injections and 2555 (88.12%) drugs were prescribed from National List of Essential
Medicine. Almost all prescription details were completed in prescriptions. Total 25 types of
formulations and 7 types of Route of Administration were prescribed. Moreover, there were
98 types of classes of drugs, 422 antibiotics and 1118 Fixed Dose Combinations were
prescribed. Conclusion: The pattern of prescription in terms of completeness and quality was good and appropriate. In our study we found prescribing pattern satisfactory.
Keywords: paediatrics; prescription; prescribing pattern; outpatient.
[Full Text Article]