A study of drug prescribing pattern using WHO prescribing indicators in the state of Goa, India

Abstract

An inappropriate prescribing pattern by doctors often encourages inappropriate self-medication by patients because of the asymmetry of medical information. 1 The attitude today is the root on which the future grows. Hence, it is generally agreed that the teaching hospitals have a special responsibility to society to promote rational prescribing ABSTRACT Background: The quality of life in developing countries can be improved by enhancing the standards of medical treatment at all levels of the health care delivery system. Teaching hospitals have a special responsibility toward society to promote rational prescribing by their staff and, through them, the future generations of doctors. Methods: A sample of 1000 patient prescriptions was assessed retrospectively to assess the drug prescription patterns in the state of Goa. Results: Of 1842 drug products prescribed, the average number of drugs per prescription was 1.842. The total number of drugs prescribed by generic name was 1 (0.05%). An antibiotic was prescribed in 318 patient encounters (31.8%). Almost all drugs prescribed (n=1842, 99.67%) were on the essential drug list of India. During the study period, antibiotics were prescribed the most (n=318, 17.26%), followed by drug for cardiovascular system (n=265, 14.39%) and gastrointestinal tract (n=238, 12.92%). Conclusions: Baseline data gathered by this study can be used by researchers and policymakers. Further the problem-based basic training in pharmacotherapy; targeted continuing education can prove useful to medical profession to improve prescribing practice and public health administrators for promoting effective rational drug use.

Assessment of drug prescribing pattern using WHO indicators in hospitalized patients at a tertiary care teaching hospital in rural area of India

“…Similar value was also present in study done by Afroj Abidi et al, 2012higher in studies done by Binu et al, 2013 (41.98%), 16 U.A. Chandelkar et al, 2014 (31.8%), 17 Harmeet et al, 1998 (42.8%). 11 Drugs for CVS were prescribed in (11.82 %), followed by drugs for GIT ailments (9.01%).…”

“…Though it is comparable with other Indian studies, (78%) in study by Nitti et al, 2014 15 (70.26%) by Binu et al, 2013 16 but was still on the lower side as compared to standard value and study done by U.K. Chandelkar et al, 2014 (99.67%). 17 Also the percentage of drugs prescribed from the essential drugs list of WHO was only 23.03%. This may be due to lack of awareness of essential drug list.…”

Assessment of drug use pattern using World Health Organization prescribing indicators in a tertiary care hospital in Mangalore: A cross-sectional study

“…It was more than findings from the study by Chandelkar and Rataboli (0.05%) [18] and it was comparable to findings from Rehan et al (1.5%) [16] but much low compared to other studies by Tripathy et al (68%), [17] Hazra et al (46.2%), [13] and other international studies. [19,20] This indicates that prescribing habits are directly influenced by representatives of drug companies.…”

Drug Prescribing and Dispensing Practices in Tertiary Care Hospital of Eastern Ethiopia: Evaluation with World Health Organization Core Prescribing and Patient Care Indicators

“…The percentage of encounters with antibiotics prescribed was found to be 50.67% which is too much higher than the upper limit of WHO standard, 30% (ideal range, 20-26.8%) [10]. Values that are lower than this finding and closer to the WHO standard were reported from different areas of the globe including 30.3% and 31.8% in Indian healthcare settings [22,30], 29.14% and 31.8% in GUTRH and Bahir Dar, respectively, Ethiopia [19,31]. However, several reports indicated that the prevalence of prescriptions containing antibiotics is even more than this finding.…”

“…On the other hand, fewer values were documented in other health care settings including 83.1% in Pakistan [25] and 79.2% in southern Ethiopia. Oddly enough, extremely poor generic prescribing practices were also reported in some settings such as 0.5% and 0.05% in Indian healthcare settings [22,30] and 0.0% in tertiary care hospital of Bangladesh [26]. Being generic is one of the criteria for essential drugs selection.…”