Authors
Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India
Abstract
Objective: Drug utilization studies provide information regarding the drug
usage pattern in hospital settings, which can be used to promote cost‑efficient
uses of drugs. The present observational retrospective study was conducted to
evaluate the drug utilization pattern in a tertiary care center in India and create
a baseline consumption data for the drugs, simultaneously identifying targets
for improving drug prescribing pattern. Methods: The current retrospective
cross-sectional study was conducted at All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Raipur, wherein the 217 medical records of different departments for August 2019
were chosen randomly (using systematic random sampling) for evaluation. The
information was extracted from medical records regarding the basic demographic
details, drug strength, route, and total amount, and eventually, the World Health
Organization (WHO) core indicators were estimated. Drug utilization data were
assessed using the WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical/Defined Daily
Dose (ATC-DDD) methodology. Potential drug–drug interactions were also
analyzed. Findings: Most of the records analyzed were of male patients (56.2%).
Drugs prescribed by their generic name were 50%. Prescriptions containing
injection and antimicrobials were 68.1% and 83.6%, respectively. 49.3% of the
patients had received a fixed‑dose combination, and 60.9% of drugs belonged
to the National List of Essential Medicines 2015. A total of 15 potential drug
interactions were found. Conclusion: Calculated prescribed daily dose of most of
the antimicrobials and other groups of drugs was close to the WHO-DDD. Trade
name prescription and polypharmacy were very common. Antibiotics accounted
for the majority of drug costs.
Keywords
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