ABSTRACT
Introduction: Community pharmacy (CP) is one of the health care centers that have a key role to play in the current COVID-19 pandemic period. Prescriptions monitoring studies are essential as this helps in understanding the current prescribing pattern adopted by physicians. Furthermore, only few CP-based research studies were noted. This study was conducted with an aim to study prescribing pattern using World Health Organization (WHO) indicators from few community pharmacies in Maharashtra, India, during COVID-19 Pandemic period. Material and Methods: An observational study was conducted and sample comprised of prescriptions collected from different parts of Maharashtra (Mumbai, Pune. and Nashik). One thousand and fifty-six prescriptions were collected and data was collected for a period of 6 months (August 2020–January 2021). The variables of interest in this study were: Number of medications in each prescription, number of prescriptions with generic names, number of antibiotics and injectables in each prescription, number of prescribed drugs from essential drug list (EDL), and defined daily dose (DDD). Results: Out of 3058 drugs prescribed, it was found that average number of drugs per prescription was 2.89 (standard deviation ± 1.37). Only 23 (0.75%) were prescribed by generic name. Antibiotics and injectables were 399 (37.78%) and 29 (2.74%), respectively. Drugs that were prescribed from EDL were only 920 (30.08%). The total class of antimicrobial agents prescribed (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical group J01) was 13. After calculating DDD, DDD of Azithromycin was found to the highest (81.6 g). Conclusion: Among five WHO indicators, only the percentage of encounters with an injection was in compliance with the WHO recommended value. Further studies are required for better understanding of this area.
ABSTRACT
Abstracts: Background: Retinal vein occlusion is a commonly encountered vascular disorder affecting the retina. Systemic diseases have been implicated in the pathogenesis of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Many systemic risk factors of BRVO are reported from studies done in various countries. However, there is scarcity of reports of systemic associations of BRVO in Indian population. Purpose: To find the systemic associations of BRVO. Materials and Methods: Medical records of patients of BRVO visiting the tertiary eye care center of a medical college during the past two years were retrieved. Their demographic presentations and systemic associations were analyzed. Results: One hundred and fourteen patients of BRVO with male:female ratio of 2.3:1 and having a mean age of 58 + 9.5 years were analyzed. Seventy-five (65.8 %) patients were hypertensive, 32 (28.1 %) had hyperhomocysteinemia, 26 (22. 8 %) were suffering from diabetes mellitus and 20 (17.5 %) were dyslipidemic. Twenty (17.5 %) patients were addicted to tobacco in some or the other forms whereas 18 (15.8 %) patients were smokers. Conclusion: The first step in the management of BRVO is to identify the risk factors associated with the disease in order to correct them. A joint effort is needed between the ophthalmologist and the physician to treat this sight-threatening retinal condition.