DRUG UTILIZATION REVIEW IN PEDIATRICS AT THE TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Abstract

To understand the prescribing patterns of various classes of drugs in Pediatrics and to identify the barriers associated with rational prescribing of pediatric drugs. Methodology: A Prospective-observational study was carried out in the tertiary care research hospital over a period of 6 months using a specially designed Case Report Form (CRF). Results:  There were 126 (63%) prescriptions collected from male patients and (37%) from female patients with a total of 630 prescribed drugs. Seizure was the most common disease with 107 cases (54%) followed by LRTI (26%) and Pneumonia (9.5%) respectively. Various WHO prescribing indicators were used in the study. Average number of drugs per prescription was 3.15 which was higher than standard (1.6-1.8). Percentage of drugs prescribed with generic names was found to be 38.2%. Among 200 prescriptions 10.2% was found to be Antibiotics with Penicillin was most common (56%) followed by Cephalosporins (28%). About 14.7% of drugs were given as Injections, which was within WHO recommended range of 13.4%-24.1%. Nearly 41.4% drugs were from EDL. Salbutamol was the most commonly prescribed for Off-label use (70%) for children under age of 2 years (Infants) out of 20 Off-label use. About 93.5% prescription orders were found to be rational. Conclusion: This study provides few insights into the drug use patterns in pediatric department of the tertiary care teaching hospital and Continuous medical education with a focus on rational drug use and evidence based medicine should form part of the program of the hospital.

Keywords: Drug Utilization, Indicators, EDL, Off-label.