ABSTRACT
Background: Studies show that in India, the health loss from alcohol will grow larger, unless effective interventions are implemented. Initiation of alcohol intake starts from a very early age and is higher in rural areas. The best way to reduce alcoholism is prevention rather than curing the already addicted persons. For this we need to know the magnitude of this problem. This study is aimed at estimating the prevalence, identifying the causative and contributing factors of alcoholism among higher secondary school children of Theni district.Methods: A self-administered validated questionnaire was given to the male school students of 15 to 17 years (XI and XII students) to assess the prevalence and pattern of alcohol use among them. The questionnaire was prepared with reference from the global school-based student health survey (GSHS), the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) questionnaire and the cut-annoyed-guilty- eye (CAGE) questionnaire. Data analysis was done using software OpenEpi, Version 3.Results: A total of 500 students were analyzed with a response rate of 94% (n=470). The overall prevalence of alcohol use was found to be 31.06%. Nearly 70% had the possibility of alcoholism and should be investigated further for severity of alcohol use, 30% had impaired control over drinking almost daily and 17% had injury or injured someone because of drinking.Conclusions: The mean age of initiation of alcohol consumption is decreasing and the number of alcohol consumers is increasing.
ABSTRACT
Background: Rational use of medicines promotes good health practices and prevents inappropriate use of medicines, polypharmacy, unnecessary use of antimicrobials, injections, and also encourages use of medicines from essential medicine list and dispensing by generic names. The aim of the study was to analyze the outpatient prescriptions of a tertiary care centre by utilizing World Health Organization (WHO) core drug use prescribing indicators.Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care health setup at Puducherry, South India. Outpatient prescriptions from all the major clinical departments were analyzed using WHO prescribing indicators and they were compared with some similar studies.Results: The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.74. The percentage of prescriptions with antibiotics was 20.33% and the percentage of prescriptions with injections was 0.16%. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names and from essential medicine list was 83.13% and 87.9 respectively. Further antibiotic utilization was found to be higher in the department of ENT (56.67%), respiratory medicine (45%) and surgery (40%). Percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names in pediatrics and respiratory medicine were found to be 67.88% and 65.27% and percentage of drugs prescribed from essential medicine list in dermatology was 69.62%.Conclusions: Prescription pattern followed in our Institute almost adheres to the guidelines laid down by the WHO. Moreover, it is also implied that a routine audit of this type should be done in health care setups to ensure that they adhere to the WHO guidelines for better health care.