A study on the prescription pattern of antifungal drugs in the Dermatology Department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Southern Kerala

Abstract

Background: Skin disorders form 2% of total Out Patient Department consultations worldwide. But no such data is available from India. Studying prescription pattern is a component of medical audit that help prescribers to provide rational and cost-effective medical care. This study is about the prescription pattern of antifungals in this institution and will help in developing local policies for appropriate use of antifungal drugs. The objective was to study the prescription pattern of antifungals in dermatological diseases.Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted from 1st June 2017 to 30th November 2017 in Dermatology Department. Prescriptions included all newly diagnosed patients with cutaneous fungal infection of both sex who attended Dermatology OPD. Factors considered were sociodemographic parameters, number of patients with combination and monotherapy, number of single topical agents and Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) details of prescribing indicators.Results: 1500 prescriptions were analysed; 500 prescriptions were of fungal infection. 40.2% of the patients were in 18-35 years age group. There were a greater number of males (59.6%) than females (40.4%).Conclusions: The most common oral antifungal used was fluconazole. Terbinafine and clotrimazole were the most commonly used topical agents.

Drug prescribing pattern of antifungal drugs for local fungal infections in a tertiary care hospital: MAMC, Agroha

“…12 Gopimohan et al study showed average 3.12 drugs per encounter were prescribed. 15 Patil et al study showed average number of drugs per prescription was 3.27. 8 This is similar to current study, but according to WHO the average number of drugs per encounter was 5.13.…”

“…Gopimohan et al study showed that average number of antifungal prescribed per encounter was 2. 15 Average number of systemic and topical antifungal drugs prescribed per encounter were 1 and 1.10 respectively.…”

Antifungal prescription practices and consumption in a tertiary care hospital of a developing country

“…Notably, haematology‐oncology units contributed to maximum antifungal use in our hospital. A few population‐specific studies from India reported antifungal use of 3.28%–41.2% in the ICUs, 6.16% in febrile neutropenia patients, 7.6%–16% in an oncology hospital and 33.33% in a dermatology OPD 31‐35 . The low antifungal use in our study could be due to the comparatively better awareness of fungal diseases and the availability of reference mycology laboratory in this tertiary care centre.…”

“…A few population-specific studies from India reported antifungal use of 3.28%-41.2% in the ICUs, 6.16% in febrile neutropenia patients, 7.6%-16% in an oncology hospital and 33.33% in a dermatology OPD. [31][32][33][34][35] The low antifungal use in our study could be due to the comparatively better awareness of fungal diseases and the availability of reference mycology laboratory in this tertiary care centre. However, 50% of Asian tertiary care centres do not have equipped mycology laboratories.…”

A pharmacoepidemiology study of local fungal infections in skin and venereal diseases outpatient department of a rural tertiary care hospital

“…18 In Gopimohan et al most commonly prescribed topical agent was terbinafine. 19 Antifungal soaps and powders were also prescribed along with oral and topical antifungal drugs in few prescriptions. Out of 2331 antifungal drugs, prescribed 331 antifungal drugs were soaps and powders.…”