Prescribing pattern in ophthalmological outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Dehradun, Uttarakhand: a pharmaco-epidemiological study

Background: Irrational prescribing is a common phenomenon, seen among medical practitioners. Knowledge, awareness, and attitude denote the practicing trends among the practitioners. The objective of this study was to describe the prescribing practices in Ophthalmology outpatient department (OPD) to promote rational prescribing. Methods: This study was conducted between January 2011 to June 2011, in Department of Pharmacology and Ophthalmology, SGRRIM and HS, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. A total number of 255 prescriptions were randomly collected from the Ophthalmology OPD and were analyzed for various parameters using national essential medicine list 2011 and World Health Organization drug use indicators. Results: A total number of 255 prescriptions were evaluated for prescribing pattern, 153 (60%) patients were between 16 and 45 years of age, the male: female ratio was 1.13:1. 237 (93%) patients from middle socioeconomic status. Diseases pattern observed were conjunctivitis 102 (40%), refractive error 45 (17.64%), stye 12 (4.7%), cataract 9 (3.52%), and miscellaneous 87 (34.12%). One hundred and thirty-eight (54.11%) patients received antimicrobial agents, fluoroquinolone (ofloxacin, moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, etc.) were the most frequently prescribed antimicrobial drugs, analgesics (diclofenac and ketorolac) were prescribed to 45 (17.64%) patients, 54 (21.17%) received steroids (dexamethasone and prednisolone), 96 (37.64%) patients received other drugs (carboxymethylcellulose [CMC], multi-vitamins, zinc preparations, acyclovir, and anti-allergics). Fixed dose combinations (FDCs) were used in 90 (35.29%) patients, the most common combination was antimicrobials with steroids. All the drugs were prescribed by brand names and 1.9 drug/prescription was used. Conclusion: Topical antimicrobial agents are the most commonly used drugs in ophthalmic OPD in our setup; the most common FDCs prescribed were antimicrobials with steroids, the other commonly used drugs were analgesics, CMC and anti-allergic drugs.