A Drug Utilization Study In The Ophthalmology Department Of a Medical College, Karnataka, India
82-84
Correspondence
Dr .YASMEEN MANIYAR
M.D. Pharmacology, Professor & H O D
Department of Pharmacology,
S Nijalingappa Medical College and H.S.K Hospital and Research Centre, Navanagar, Bagalkot, Karnataka,India 587101
Email: yasmeen_maniyar@hotmail.com
Aim: There is concern regarding the irrational production, prescription and the use of drugs in India. The present study was conducted to evaluate the pattern of prescription and the use of drugs in the outpatients Ophthalmology Department at S. Nijalingappa Medical College and HSK Hospital and Research Center, Bagalkot.
Methods: The prescriptions of 660 out patients were audited through a specially designed form, in which 1322 prescriptions were analyzed for the following: average number of drugs per prescription, the duration of treatment, the dosage form, the frequency of administration, the number of encounters with antibiotics and the percentage of drugs prescribed by their generic names.
Results: Prescription analysis showed that the average number of drugs per prescription was 2.00%. The maximum number of drugs which were prescribed, were in the form of eye drops (65.81%), followed by ointments (17.63%), capsules (8.02%), tablets (6.59%), syrups (0.76%), injections (0.76%) and lotions (0.31%). The dosage form was indicated for 99.88% of the drugs, the frequency of drug administration for 94% of the drugs and the duration of treatment for only 75% of the drugs prescribed. The number of antibiotics which were prescribed were 399(30.18%), out of which 257(64.3%) were antibiotics which were prescribed in the form of drops, 129(32.26%) were prescribed as ointments and 13 (3.25%) were prescribed orally. The number of encounters with anti inflammatory and anti allergic drugs were138 (10.43%), those with mydriatics and cycloplegics were 96(7.26%), those with miotics were 30 (2.26%) and those with multivitamins were 87 (6.58%). The common prescription writing errors wereminimum and there was no evidence of polypharmacy. However, the duration of treatment and prescribing by the generic names was low.