Assessment of Incidence, Clinical Profile, Risk Factors and Drug Utilization Pattern in the Management of Gastroenteritis

Background: Acute Gastroenteritis is a common cause of hospitalization in India ranging from mild annoyances to devastating, dehydrating illnesses that can kill within hours. Drug utilization evaluation can be used for the description of drug use pattern; early signals of irrational use of drugs; interventions to improve drug use; quality control cycle; continuous quality improvement. Objectives: 1. Better understanding the burden and incidence of acute gastroenteritis in adults. 2. Assessment of Clinical Profile and Risk factors for Gastroenteritis. 3. Assessment of Drug utilization pattern in the management of gastroenteritis. Study Design: Prospective Cross-Sectional study was carried out in the General Medicine Department using a well-designed patient data collection form. All gastroenteritis patients' prescription detail was collected in a specially designed Case Record Form (CRF) for the evaluation of drug prescribing pattern. Results: Among these 100 patients, male n=57 (57%) and n=43 (43%) were females. The class of drugs prescribed mostly were antibiotics (100%), followed by H2 blockers (75%), and Proton-Pump Inhibitors (25%), Anti-emetics (89%), Intravenous fluids (85%), Prebiotic + Probiotic Combination (84%), Oral rehydration solution (75%), Anti-Spasmodic (60%), Analgesic + Antipyretic (45%), Antacids (15%), NSAIDs (15%) and other miscellaneous drugs for co-morbidities includesGlimepiride + Metformin (6%), Metformin (3%), Amlodipine (7%), Nebulization-Duolin + Budecort (1%), Cinnarizine (1%). Conclusion: Study result shows that male patients (56%) admitted were more compared to female (44%) and may infer that male are more prone to gastroenteritis compared to female gender. Average age of patients found was between 21-30 years, which indicates that the gastroenteritis and related infections may be chronic in this age group because of the westernization and unhygienic outside food.