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VOLUME 2 , ISSUE 1 ( January-June, 2014 ) > List of Articles

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A Study of Prescribing Practices in Outpatient Department of an Apex Tertiary Care Institute of India

V Siddharth, S Arya

Citation Information : Siddharth V, Arya S. A Study of Prescribing Practices in Outpatient Department of an Apex Tertiary Care Institute of India. Int J Res Foundation Hosp Healthc Adm 2014; 2 (1):31-35.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10035-1012

Published Online: 01-06-2014

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2014; The Author(s).


Abstract

Introduction

Poor quality prescriptions, besides affecting patient safety, have a deleterious impact on the restricted purse of sick persons, especially those belonging to lower socioeconomic strata.

Objective

To study the prescribing practices in outpatient departments of an apex tertiary care institute of India.

Methodology

Descriptive and observational study of randomly taken sample of 300 prescriptions from pharmacy was carried out. Parameters for analysis were selected based on review of literature.

Observations

Of the total samples analyzed, OPD registration number, date of registration, patients name, gender and department were mentioned in 99.3% of prescriptions. Patient name was mentioned in all the prescriptions and gender was present in 99% prescriptions. Address of the patient was present in only 64.7% (194) prescriptions. 93.7% of the prescriptions were legible. Ninety-seven percent of the prescriptions carried diagnosis or presenting complaints. An average of 2.82 ± 1.77 (median – 3) drugs were prescribed per patient. Only 1.63% (14) prescribed drugs were generic. In our study, antacids (26.33%) followed by the vitamins (24%), analgesics (23.3%), antibiotics (22.8%) and antipyretics (18%) were the most commonly prescribed drugs. Drug strength, drug frequency and drug administration route was mentioned in only 62, 89 and 89% of the total prescriptions. Fifty percent did not carry the duration and mean duration of prescription was 17.75 ± 24.18 days. Signature, name, designation, address, stamp and medical registration number of the physician was mentioned only in 96.7, 7.3, 6.7, 2.7, 0.7 and 0% of the prescriptions respectively.

Conclusion

The study has brought out the need for sensitization and awareness programes for doctors to improve the quality of prescription-writing and periodic review of prescriptions.

How to cite this article

Siddharth V, Arya S, Gupta SK. A Study of Prescribing Practices in Outpatient Department of an Apex Tertiary Care Institute of India. Int J Res Foundation Hosp Healthc Adm 2014;2(1):31-35.


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