DRUG UTILIZATION PATTERNS USING WHO CORE PRESCRIBING INDICATORS IN DIFFERENT OUT PATIENT DEPARTMENTS AT SECONDARY CARE HOSPITAL, KARIMNAGAR

Aim:The aim of this study is to assess the prescribing patterns of medicines, apply the World Health Organization (WHO) core indicators and to assess the appropriateness of prescribed medicines in a pediatric unit. Materials and Methods:A prospective observational drug utilization study of outpatients was carried out in secondary care hospital for a period of 2 months. Patients who attended different units were included in the study and patients who were not willing to participate in the study were excluded and the data collected from the hospital were analyzed. Results:Out of 150 patients, the average number of drugs per patient was 4.56. The percentage of drugs prescribed with the generic name was found to be 19.16%. Among 150 prescriptions 49.78% of the drugs were prescribed from essential drug list. Among the antibiotics 33.33% were prescribed, cephalosporin group were the most commonly prescribed followed by amino glycoside and penicillin. Nearly, 21.80% of the medicines were given as intravenous and the prescriptions without drugs were 1.43%. Only 75.6% of patients have knowledge about their dosage schedule and almost all the prescriptions were appropriate. Conclusion:The assessment of WHO core indicators helped to improvise the prescribing pattern, identify significant problems involved in the knowledge gap of patients or caretakers understanding of instructions provided by consultants and even to minimize the cost burden on patient.