"Evaluation of Drug Utilization pattern in Ocular Diseases with Respect to Pharmacoepidemiology in Outpatient"

Abstract

Objective: Eye is very important sensory organ in the body. Eye complaints are common in general practice and some of them, if neglected leading to blindness. so, the establishments of an effective eye care delivery system for the treatment of eye diseases and prevention of blindness is linked to the existing general services and resources available. The objective of this work is to study and assess the patterns of prescription and drug utilization by specific drug use indicators in respect to pharmacoepidemiology, in ophthalmology outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods:The data of 600 cases was collected to record the required information from the OPD drug prescription cards of each patient including patient's demographic details. All the drugs prescribed recorded including its dosage form, route of administration, frequency of administration, indication for which prescribed, duration of therapy. The data recorded was analyzed by WHO/INRUD Core Drug Use Indicators and additional indices. Result:The average number of drugs per prescription was 3.28. Percentage of drug prescribed by generic name was only 5.38%. Percentage of encounters with antibiotics was 95%. percentage of encounter with injections was 0.67%. Percentage of drugs prescribed from National Essential Drug List was only 33.50%. Conclusion:This study of prescription analysis gives a message to the prescribing ophthalmologist to achieve rational and safe effective health care.