Assessment of rational use of drugs using World Health Organization prescribing and patient care indicators in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the rational use of drug use using World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing and patient care indicators in a tertiary care hospital. 180 prescriptions were analyzed. 636 drugs were prescribed in total. The mean age group of patients was 37.14±19.54 years. 93.3 % of prescriptions contain less than or equal to five drugs. Anti-ulcer drugs, vitamin supplements, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are most commonly prescribed. The average number of drugs per encounter was 3.53, 29.77% drugs were prescribed by generic names, 2.77% prescriptions contain injection formulations, 31.66% prescriptions contain antibiotics, and 96.85% drugs are from essential drugs list. The average consultation time and dispensing time were 4.57 mins and 175.8 secs respectively. The percentage of drugs dispensed was 83.82%, the percentage of drugs adequately labeled was 0%, and the percentage of patients knowing the correct dose was 67.77%. Except for the percentage of injections prescribed, remaining prescribing indicators should be improved to reach optimal value suggested by WHO. Except for dispensing time, remaining patient care indicators should be improved to reach optimal value suggested by WHO. A clinical pharmacist can help improve rational drug use by improving scores of the indicators where ever possible.

Keywords

• Prescribing
• patient care
• indicators
• World Health Organization
• rational drug use

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