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Paediatric Prescription Analysis in a Primary Health Care Institution
Jinish Jose1, Denny Devassykutty2
1Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Government Medical College , Kottayam, Kerala, India .
Insights
This study analyzed pediatric prescription patterns at a primary care center, finding adherence to WHO guidelines but highlighting the need to reduce antibiotic overuse. This is crucial for combating drug resistance and improving pediatric pharmacotherapy.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Public Health
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Limited data exists on pediatric prescription patterns at the primary care level.
- Recent initiatives include a new prescription format by the Medical Council of India and an antibiotic stewardship program in Kerala.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze pediatric prescription and drug dispensing patterns.
- To evaluate adherence to World Health Organization (WHO) core drug use indicators.
- To assess compliance with the Medical Council of India's prescribed format.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study was conducted over four months at a community health center.
- Data collected through parent interviews, prescription, and medicine examination.
- Analysis focused on prescription and dispensing errors using quantitative and qualitative variables.
Main Results:
- Average of 2.29 drugs prescribed per patient; 98.4% prescribed by generic name.
- Antibiotic use was frequent (73.18%), with minimal injection use (0.006%).
- Patient weight recorded in 58.33% of prescriptions; 100% included child details, diagnosis, and doctor's signature.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric prescription patterns align with WHO standard guidelines.
- Interventions are necessary to curb antibiotic overprescription.
- Strengthening antibiotic stewardship is vital to prevent drug-resistant strains.
Introduction:
Paediatric prescription analysis was done by vari-ous studies in tertiary care centers but not much published data, at primary care level. The Medical Council of India introduced new prescription format and also antibiotic stewardship program was launched by Government of Kerala in the year 2015. So in these contexts this study was conducted.
Aim:
To analyse the patterns of prescriptions and drug dis-pensing in pediatric patients using WHO core drug use indicators and parameters in the prescription format prescribed by Medical Council of India.
Materials And Methods:
Prospective study was done at a community health center, for a period of four months where parents of children attending the outpatient department were interviewed and the prescriptions and medicines that is with them was examined and analysed for any prescription errors or dispensing errors. For statistical analysis, quantitative variables were expressed in mean and standard deviation and qualitative variables in percentages.
Results:
The mean age of the patients was 6.1 (SD±3.4) years. The average number of drugs prescribed was 2.29 (SD±35.91), 98.4% drugs were prescribed by generic name. Majority of drugs prescribed were in the form of syrups (62.73%), use of antibiotics was frequent (73.18%), but injection use was very minimal (0.006%). Weight of the patient was recorded in 58.33% of the prescriptions. Only 30 prescriptions (5.43%) were written in capital letters. A 100% of the prescriptions contain the details of the child along with provisional diagnosis and signature of the doctor. A 98.44% of the drugs prescribed were from the essential drug list. Copy of the essential drug list is available at the institution. The availability of key drugs was 100%. 98.73% knew the correct dosages and 100% of the drugs were adequately labeled.
Conclusion:
The prescription pattern is in accordance with the standard guidelines of WHO. Interventions are needed to rectify over prescription of antibiotics to strengthen antibiotic stewardship program so that emergence of drug resistant strains can be avoided.
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