ABSTRACT
Background: Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PVPI) is a step towards participation in WHO programme for International Drug Safety Monitoring. Pharmacovigilance (PV) system is an integral part of drug therapy, which helps in detection, monitoring and designing strategies to minimize the occurrence of Adverse Drug Reaction (ADRs). The present study is done to study the patterns of ADRs in a tertiary care government hospital.Methods: A total of 327 suspected ADR reports submitted to the pharmacovigilance unit at department of pharmacology under PVPI were evaluated for a period of two years with respect to age, sex, causative drug, organ system involvement and seriousness of ADRs. The causality assessment was done using WHO assessment method.Results: Female patients experienced more (54.13%) ADRs. The highest percentage (49.24%) of ADRs were seen in age group of 18-44 years, followed by 45-60 years (33.33%). Medicine department reported the maximum number (42.20%) of ADRs. Antimicrobial agents (27.83%) were the commonest group of drugs causing ADRs, followed by anti psychotics (15.90%) and analgesic drugs (10.70%). Skin is the major organ system affected (30.28%). Causality assessment revealed (51.99%) of the ADRs were possible. Majority of the ADRs (79.82%) were nonserious and (20.18%) were serious requiring hospitalization. Death occurred in five patients.Conclusions: The results suggest that there is under reporting and there is a need to create awareness among health care professionals(HCP) about the importance of Pharmacovigilance .The data also helps in designing strategies for framing policies towards safer use of drugs in future.
ABSTRACT
Background: In surgical patients, a number of drugs are prescribed to prevent post-operative infections and to relieve pain. Therefore, prescription audit should be periodically performed in Department of Surgery to analyze the present scenario of drugs prescribed for the surgical/post-operative patients. This will help us to use the medicines rationally and decrease the adverse effects in surgical patients. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the drugs prescribing pattern in the Surgery Department in Tertiary Care Teaching Institute. Methods: Patients’ prescriptions or case record forms were randomly collected over a period of 1 year from the Department of Surgery at GGS Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, Punjab (India) for analysis and rationalization. Results: A total of 900 prescriptions was collected and analyzed for drugs used in surgical patients. Average number of drugs prescribed is 4.26. The most commonly prescribed drugs were anti-microbial agents (AMAs), gastrointestinal tract (GIT) related, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and multivitamins and trace elements, and their percentages were 37.90%, 23.36%, 14.14 %, and 9.11% respectively. About 95% drugs were prescribed by non-generic (Trade) names. Drugs prescribed from National Essential Medicines List (EML) and World Health Organization EML were 69.25% and 45.31% respectively. Average cost per prescription per day was Rs. 610/- (INR) or $10.34 USD in a surgical patient. Conclusions: There is a high tendency and frequency to prescribe four and more than four drugs to post-operative patients. Most drugs prescribed were AMAs, GIT related, NSAIDs and Multivitamins and trace elements. There is an urgent need to develop proper prescription writing skills in budding doctors regarding the use of EML/drugs list and generic medicines to reduce the cost of treatment.
ABSTRACT
Prescription of drugs which needs to be continuously assessed and refined accordingly. It is not only reflects the physician’s knowledge of pharmacology and pathophysiology of diseases but also his/her skill in diagnose and attitude towards selecting the most appropriate cost effective treatment. Antimicrobials are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in hospital. As per literature, they account for nearly 20% of all new and repeat prescription each year. Hospital purchase of these drugs is thought to be about 25 to 30 % of the total annual drug budget. Such studies have been sparse from Gujarat and hence, this study was undertaken. Objective: This study was carried out to find out the prescribing patterns of antimicrobial drugs in the medicine department at tertiary teaching care hospital, Vadodara (Gujarat). Methods: Retrospective study was carried out by collecting 350 prescriptions containing antimicrobial agents of the indoor patients admitted (Oct 2005 to June 2006) in the wards of medicine department at Sir Sayajirao General (SSG) Hospital, Vadodara to assess the prescribing patterns of antimicrobial agents. All the information about drugs details were recorded in pre-tested proforma. Results: In our study, total 350 prescriptions containing 539 antimicrobial drugs were prescribed in-patients during study. Of them β –lactam (except CP) (159; 29.49%) and cephalosporin (156; 28.94%) groups were commonly prescribed. Average number of antimicrobials per prescription was 1.54.Out of 539 antimicrobial agents prescribed, 486 (90.16%) were prescribed by generic name, while only 53(9.53%) were prescribed by trade name. Total numbers of antimicrobial prescribed by parenteral route were 313(58.07%), while 226(41.93%) antimicrobial agents were prescribed by oral route. Conclusion: Results indicate that noticeable controlled over the prescribing habits of the physicians for indoor patients at our hospital. It is suggested that further detail analysis to judge the rationality of the therapy is necessary.