Irrational prescribing of drugs is a major health concern in developing countries like Bangladesh. A study was therefore undertaken in a hospital, situated in Rajshahi region of Bangladesh, to find the prescribing pattern and to detect the prescription errors to the admitted patients. Prescriptions of 200 patients were collected from various departments of the hospital over a period of three months. Prescription pattern was analyzed using general indicators suggested by WHO and prescribing errors were determined by comparing the prescribed drugs with national standard treatment guidelines, textbooks and authentic online resources. The average number of drugs per prescription was found to be 4.89 and 76.5% prescriptions contained complex regimen. In this study, we found no prescription with generic name. The percentage of prescription with antibiotics was 78% that was 15.95% of total drugs. The injectable preparations used were 17.18% of total 978 drugs. About 769 (3.85 per prescription) prescription errors were identified from 978 prescribed drugs. The name of 35 prescribed drugs was not clear due to illegible hand writing. The dose strength was missing for 279 drugs and 31 drugs had improper abbreviation. The study also identified 409 drug interactions. About 6.5% prescription orders were identified for the patients with kidney and urinary problems and there was no dose adjustment. Frequency of occurrence of prescription errors found during the study can be rated high. The prescription pattern and the prescription errors have indicated the need to establish proper system of recording and analyzing therapy before writing a prescription in order to promote rational drug therapy.

Objective: Irrational drug use increased the risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), the emergence of drug resistance and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The study was designed to analyse prescription patterns and antibiotic use among outpatients in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Bangladesh.Methods: This prospective survey was conducted among the out-patients in a district hospital. The prescribed drugs were classified according to Anatomical and Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system. Patient characteristics and drug data were recorded. The prescription pattern was analysed using general drug use indicators according to World Health Organisation (WHO).Results: A total of 405 prescriptions were analyzed of which 54% of child and 46% of adult prescriptions. The age and body weight of the patients were not mentioned in 30% of child and 62% of adult prescriptions and none of the prescriptions included sex of the patients. Physician's handwriting was not clear and legible in 31% prescriptions. A total 1362 drugs were used in this study with an average 3.36 drugs per prescription. However, none of the drugs was prescribed in generic name. Children were highly exposed to antibiotics (66%) than to adults (44%) of which cephalosporin's (30%) and macrolides (14%) were commonly used. Interestingly, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were also highly accounted in children (53%) than to adults (36%). Conclusion:Our results suggested that the prescription information was incomplete and physicians did not follow the standard guideline for drug treatment resulting in polypharmacy and indiscriminate use of antimicrobials irrespective to the age of patients.

Although hospital pharmacists are recognized for its importance as health care provider in many developed countries, in most developing countries it is still underutilized. The aim of the present study was to summarize the current scenario of pharmacy practices in four hospitals of Bangladesh and to identify the pharmacist's rolesin these seftap. The study was conducted through convenient sampling method using a well-designed 14-item questionnaire to collect the opinions from the respondents. The results showed that hospital pharmacy service, as a unique department of hospital, existed in 50% of the studied hospitals where activities were done by graduate pharmacists and they were also involved in different departments to provide clinical services to the patients. The rest 50% of the studied hospitals had no hospital pharmacy service. Only a retail drug store inside the hospital was present and there was no diploma or graduate or any pharmacy technician for providing patient care. This study concludes that hospital pharmacy practice is just started in some private modern hospitals in Bangladesh which is inaccessible for the majority of peoples due to high patients cost of these hospitals.

The present study was designed to assess the incidence of various prescription errors with handwritten prescription order for hospitalized patients. Investigation was made in a private hospital situated at the outskirts of Bogra, Bangladesh. A total of 200 prescription orders for the admitted patients in medicine, surgery, orthopedic and diabetes ward of the hospital were evaluated. Prescribing errors were determined by consulting with the standard treatment guidelines, text books and authentic online sources. About 692 (3.46 per prescription) medication related problems (MRPs) were identified from 1234 prescribed drugs. The names of 63 prescribed drugs were not clear due to ambiguous hand writing, the dose strength were found missing for 219 drugs and surprisingly among them 42 drugs were available in the market in multiple dose strengths. More importantly, a total of 366 drug interactions were also identified of which 12.57% was serious, 53.28% was significant and 34.15% was minor. About 15% prescriptions orders were identified for the patients with kidney and urinary problems and there were no dose adjustment. In 3% of prescriptions, two drugs having same pharmacological action were prescribed. Although in medical practice single drug prescription is encouraged, the average number of prescribed drugs per prescription was 6.17. These serious prescription errors are the major cause of patient morbidity and mortality, increased length of hospital stay and substantial extra treatment costs.

Objective: Aim of the study was to assess drug utilization among pediatric patients in both private practice and hospital settings in Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. Methods: This observational study was conducted during a period of two months (March to April) in 2017. Prescriptions were randomly collected from patients and recorded in a predesigned questionnaire form. The data analysis was carried out by using a statistical software package GraphPad Prism. Results: The study involved a total of 185 patients, of which 62.70% were male and 37.30% were female. The patient’s age ranges from 1 mo-12 y and highest number of patients visited physicians belong to group 1 mo-1 y (47.57%). Most commonly occurring disease conditions were pneumonia (24%), the leading cause of hospitalizations among the children's age group of 1 mo-1 y. The results indicated that physician’s handwriting was not clear and legible in 50 (27.03%) prescriptions. A total of 468 drugs were prescribed with an average of 2.53 per prescription. However, none of the drugs were prescribed by generic name. The most commonly prescribed drugs were antibiotics 173 (93.5%). About 78% patients were exposed to antibiotics, of which single antibiotic was prescribed in 116 (62.70%) and two antibiotics in 23 (12.43%) prescriptions. Among the drugs, NSAIDS 65 (35.14%), anti-histamine 57 (30.81%), anti-asthmatic 49 (26.49%) drugs were assigned in prescriptions followed by vitamin and minerals 51 (27.57%). Steroids 57 (30.81%) and hypnotics 26 (14.05%) were also accounted in many prescriptions. Interestingly, antibiotics were indiscriminately prescribed in private practices without any bacteriological examinations, whereas in hospital settings, most of the treatment was initiated after culture and sensitivity tests. Conclusion: Children were highly exposed to antibiotics, steroids and hypnotics in both private practice and hospital settings.  So Medical practitioners should be aware of current guidelines for prescriptions of antibiotics and drugs in child.