Rationality of Prescriptions by Rational Use of Medicine Consensus Approach in Common Respiratory and Gastrointestinal Infections: An Outpatient Department Based Cross-Sectional Study from India

Abstract

Background: Drug utilisation studies are relevant for the analysis of prescription rationality and are pertinent in today’s context of the increasing burden of antimicrobial resistance. Prescriptions for patients with diarrhoea or Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) have been analysed in this study to understand the prescription pattern among various categories of prescribers in two tertiary care centers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2019 to December 2020 in the medicine and pediatrics outpatient departments of two government teaching hospitals in West Bengal, India. A total of 630 prescriptions were evaluated against WHO standards. Prescriptions were assessed by a ‘Rational Use of Medicine Consensus committee’ approach. Results: The Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) was used in half of the patients (51%). Both the generic prescription (23.3%) and adherence to hospital formulary rates (36.5%) were low. The antibiotics prescription rate was high (57%), and it was higher for diarrhoea than ARI. Deviations from the standard treatment guidelines were found in 98.9% of prescriptions. Deviations were commonly found with prescriptions written by the junior doctors (99.6%). Conclusion: Irrational prescribing patterns prevail in tertiary care centers and indicate the necessity of awareness generation and capacity building among prescribers regarding AMR and its unseen consequences.

Evaluation of Medication Errors by Prescription Audit at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

“…In comparison with these studies conducted by Debjit Chakraborty et al and E. Yousif et al, 33.3% and 94% of prescriptions were missing diagnosis (Figure 1). 14,15 An average of three drugs per prescription was prescribed. In total, 11% of prescriptions contain more than five drugs.…”

“…In comparison with these studies conducted by Debjit Chakraborty et al and E. Yousif et al, 33.3% and 94% of prescriptions were missing diagnosis (Figure 1). 14, 15…”

Proportions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Antimicrobial-Resistant P aeruginosa Among Patients With Surgical Site Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…The possible reason is that a large amount of these 3 antibiotics were used in clinical treatments, resulting in an increase in the resistance of P aeruginosa to these 3 antibiotics. According to data from the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System, the average rate of use of antimicrobial drugs in hospitalized patients in China was 50.5%, which is comparable to that of India (57%) [ 114 ]. However, this rate is considerably higher than that reported in the Netherlands (30.9%), the United Kingdom (34.7%), and Canada (36.3%) [ 18 ].…”

Emerging Diseases/Viruses Prevention, Control, Surveillance, and One Health

“…Chakraborty et al analyze the prescriptions of patients suffering from diarrhea or acute respiratory infection in order to understand the prescription pattern among various categories of prescribers in two tertiary care centers in West Bengal, India. They reveal that irrational prescribing patterns prevail in tertiary care centers [ 26 ].…”