Evaluation of Prescribing Pattern in Orthopedics Department in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

Objective: To study the demographic profile and prescription pattern in Orthopedics department in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A prospective, observational and cross-sectional study design was adopted for this study. A total of 144 patients were enrolled and their prescriptions were analyzed for three months. The data was analyzed by using a Microsoft Excel Worksheet. The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system and defined daily dose were used to classify the prescribed drugs. Results: Out of 144 patients enrolled, 105 (72.92%) were male and 39 (27.08%) were female. Maximum patients were between 21-40 y of age. The mean age of the patients was 35.04±18.53. The average number of drugs per prescription was 4.84. Fracture of limbs (58.33%) was the most common diagnosis. Analgesics were the most commonly prescribed drugs. Diabetes was the most common comorbidity. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names was 48.06, and that from the essential drug list was 47.78. The percentage of fixed-dose combinations used was 28.55. Conclusion: Although we found that a good percentage of drugs were prescribed from essential drug list but, this practice has to be increased in future. It is also seen that average number of drugs per prescription was high and percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names was less than that by brand names. So, there is immense scope of improvement for prescribing in the hospital.