Drug use pattern in the ear, nose, throat outpatient department of a rural tertiary-care teaching hospital

Abstract

Background: It is imperative to evaluate and monitor the drug use patterns from time to time and make suitable modifications in prescribing patterns to increase the therapeutic benefit and decrease the adverse effects to optimize the medical services to the patients. Keeping this scenario in mind, the present study was undertaken. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate pattern of drug use in ENT (ear, nose, throat) outpatient department (OPD) of a rural tertiary care teaching hospital using WHO core drug prescribing indicators. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried for 3 months in the ENT OPD of SRTR Government Medical, Ambajogai, Beed, Maharashtra, India. Data were collected from the prescriptions written by treating surgeons and interviewing patients regarding their understanding of dosage forms. Results: A total of 3342 drugs were prescribed through 855 prescriptions with average number of drugs per prescription being 3.90 and average number of 2.5 drugs dispensed per prescription. Majority (59.64%) of the patients were male. Antibiotics were the most frequently prescribed drugs (24.86%) followed by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (23.60%), gastroprotective agents (22.55%), and antihistaminics (19.92%). Antibiotics were prescribed in 831 prescriptions (97.19%). Most common route of drug administration was oral (97.75%) followed by topical. Drugs were mostly (80%) prescribed by brand names. Conclusion: The present study highlights the problems of polypharmacy, overuse of brand names, and symptomatic rather than definitive approach toward patient management. Interventions to rectify overprescription of antibiotics, use of brand names, inadequate labeling of drugs are necessary to improve rational drug use. Standard treatment guidelines, hospital formulary, and educational intervention become essential to modify this behavior to benefit the patient.

Drug Utilisation Trends in Ent Outpatient Department in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Sikkim

“…When we compared the total drugs prescribed in our study with another study, we ascertained that in a study conducted by Suman RK et al (2014) 8 a total of 314 drugs were prescribed in 100 prescriptions with an average of 3.14 drug per prescription. In another study by Padwal SL et al (2015), 6 a total of 3342 drugs were prescribed through 855 prescriptions with an average of 3.90 drugs per prescription which is too high compared to our study. In this study 6 antibiotics were prescribed in 831 (97.19%) of the cases, which is again too high compared to our study and the prescription rate of antihistamines being too low as compared to ours (19.92%).…”

“…In another study by Padwal SL et al (2015), 6 a total of 3342 drugs were prescribed through 855 prescriptions with an average of 3.90 drugs per prescription which is too high compared to our study. In this study 6 antibiotics were prescribed in 831 (97.19%) of the cases, which is again too high compared to our study and the prescription rate of antihistamines being too low as compared to ours (19.92%). In a study done by Sivakumar P et al (2011), 7 assessing utilisation of antimicrobial it was noticed that only 709 drugs were prescribed for 591 prescriptions with an average of 1.20 drug per prescription being lesser as compared to ours.…”

“…A similar study was done by Padwal SL et al (2015) 6 on 855 patients, amongst which majority of them were males accounting for 59.64% which is in contrast to the present study. Another study was done by Sivakumar P et al (2011) 7 analysing the utilisation of antimicrobials in ENT patients, where 591 patients were studied of which 346 (59%) were male and 245 (41%) were female, which is again in contrast to our study group.…”

A survey of prescription pattern of antibiotic drugs on patients suffering from ENT infection within Dhaka metropolis

“…48,49,[51][52][53] Most of the prescribed drugs were administered orally (12% capsule, 80% tablet form) which was found to be similar as previous study in 2015 where 855 prescriptions were evaluated from SRTR Government Medical, Maharashtra, India. 54 In our present study most of the drugs (92%) were prescribed by brand name which coincides with the report from the survey conducted by previous study. 54,55 A total number of 473antibiotic drugs were found in 300 prescriptions among which antibiotics that lie under β-Lactam class were most commonly prescribed.…”

“…54 In our present study most of the drugs (92%) were prescribed by brand name which coincides with the report from the survey conducted by previous study. 54,55 A total number of 473antibiotic drugs were found in 300 prescriptions among which antibiotics that lie under β-Lactam class were most commonly prescribed. A similar incident was reported in the previous study.…”