ABSTRACT
Prescription auditing is a quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care. Medical Audit may be defined as a process with the aim of making improvements in patient care and proper use of resources. The most important part of healthcare system is to deliver the right medicine to the right people. Prescription auditing is one of the important tools to avoid misuse of drugs and improve rational use of drugs. The performance of the health care providers related to the appropriate use of drugs can be accessed by analysing different prescribing indicators. The parameters which have to be analysed in the process of prescription auditing are Patient demographics, Clinical diagnosis, Department, Prescribing standards, Doctor’s name and signature. A total of 25 national and international articles were collected to see the prescribing pattern of drugs. Various studies showed that majority of practitioners do not follow the guidelines while writing prescriptions and usage of drugs. There is a need to standardize the prescribing patterns in India so that all essential information is included and will be helpful for the better patient care. Irrational prescribing and improper dispensing leads to unnecessary expenditure for the patient. The present study could serve as a frame work upon which further studies can be launched in prescription auditing to investigate the scope for educational intervention and improvement in prescribing patterns.
ABSTRACT
Interferon-free direct-acting antiviral agent (DAA) therapy is preferred for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients as it exhibits a higher rate of sustained virologic response (SVR), along with reduction in treatment related adverse drug reactions (ADR), which elevates the quality of life (QOL) of patients. The study aims to evaluate the healthrelated quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with CHC, receiving Daclatasvir or velpatasvir (DCV/VEL) therapy, using Short Form-36 (SF-36) as a tool. Methods: The study involves 50 CHC patients receiving DCV/VEL, who’s HRQOL was measured using SF-36. Laboratory investigational data and SVR was recorded, and SF-36 was filled by the patient at baseline (prior to therapy), week 12 (post initiation of therapy), end of treatment (EOT), and week 24 (post initiation of therapy. HRQOL were analyzed at week 24. The association between laboratory data and HRQOL was also evaluated. Results: In regard to HRQOL, statistically significant changes were observed in physical functioning, general health, and emotional role functioning in the period between baseline to week 12 and week 24, respectively. A considerable change was observed in laboratory parameters such as aminotranferases, platelet count, and Fibrosis-4 (Fib-4) index at each time point of study as compared to baseline. Conclusion: It was found that HRQOL of patients with CHC improved significantly along with hepatic functions during the clinical course of interferon-free DAA therapy (DCV/VEL).