Prescribing pattern and pharmacoeconomics of antibiotic use in the department of pediatrics of a tertiary care medical college hospital in northern India

Escalating pharmaceutical expenditure is a global phenomenon, and Ghana has not been spared. To attend to the increasing cost of healthcare resulting from the high cost of drugs, the government of Ghana took a strategic decision to reduce its expenditure on healthcare without compromising the quality of care. The government directed that all medicines be prescribed by their generic names only at all health facilities. The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which physicians adhere to the policy by assessing physicians' generic medicine prescribing patterns across the healthcare system in selected facilities in the Greater Accra Region. Questionnaires were administered to 87 physicians in 13 selected health facilities in Ghana. The results were analyzed using SPSS. The study's findings revealed that 74.7% of physicians adhere to the policy, and there is a likely relationship between knowledge of the policy and its implementation. Also, there is no significant relationship between health facility, physician's experience, disease diagnosis stage, and the prescribing of generic medicines. There is a need for regular review of the policy with aggressive and wellstructured in-service training on the subject and the introduction of pharmacists' substitution rights.

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Adherence to a generic medicine policy: A developing country's experience

Nkansah

Bearden

Frempong-Ainguah

et al. 2021

Journal of Generic Medicines

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A prospective antibacterial utilization study in pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary referral center

Mali

Deshpande

Tullu

et al. 2018

Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine

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Purpose:Antibacterials are commonly prescribed to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) patients. However, inappropriate antibacterial prescriptions lead to increases in antibacterial resistance, treatment cost, duration of treatment, and poor clinical outcome. The antibacterial utilization study assesses the prescription patterns and if necessary recommends the interventions to improve antibacterial prescriptions. Hence, the present prospective groundwork was conducted.Materials and Methods:The study was conducted over the period of 6 months (April 18 to October 20, 2014). The demographics and drug use details were captured daily from patients admitted to PICU to assess World Health Organization indicators.Results:A total of 200 patients enrolled, among them 119 males and 81 females. There were 12.46 (±6.16) drugs prescribed per patient, of which 2.38 (±1.48) were antibacterials. Among the total drug prescribed, 18.49% were antibacterials and 97% patients received at least one antibacterial. Ceftriaxone (49.48%) was the most commonly prescribed antibacterial, while imipenem (2.58%) and colistin (2.06%) use was very low. A total of 80.95% antibacterials were prescribed by generic name, 94.88% were administered intravenously, and 80.76% were prescribed from hospital pharmacy. The average length of PICU stay was 6.15 days (±6.20), the average length of antibacterial treatment was 6.08 days (±6.27), and the average length of empirical antibacterial treatment was 5.50 days (±5.40). The cost of antibacterial therapy per patient was Indian rupees 824.64 (±235.35). In 27 patients, bacterial culture test was positive and of whom 21 received antibacterials as per sensitivity pattern.Conclusions:The use of antibacterials was not indiscriminately high but more prescriptions per sensitivity pattern are required.

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Prescribing pattern and pharmacoeconomics of antibiotic use in the department of pediatrics of a tertiary care medical college hospital in northern India

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Adherence to a generic medicine policy: A developing country's experience

Adherence to a generic medicine policy: A developing country's experience

A prospective antibacterial utilization study in pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary referral center

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