Prescription auditing based on World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing indicators in a teaching hospital in North India
Journal Title: International Journal of Medical Research and Review - Year 2016, Vol 4, Issue 10
Abstract
Background: Prescription writing is an important means of therapeutic intervention by the doctor and reflects his approach towards safe prescribing. Complacency in prescribing results in errors which can even cause adverse effects. These errors can be detected through a prescription audit. We undertook this study to audit the out-patient department (OPD) prescriptions for completeness of prescription format, legibility and against the World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing indicators recommended to investigate rational use of drugs. Methods: OPD prescriptions were photographed from the pharmacy of a teaching hospital over a period of three months and 1274 prescriptions were audited. Prescriptions were evaluated for completeness of prescription format while legibility was graded as grade 1, 2 and 3. Prescriptions were also analyzed on the five WHO prescribing indicators. Results: An average of 4.02 ± 2.23 drugs were prescribed per prescription of which 39.01% were antibiotics. Though 79.2% drugs were prescribed from the Essential Drug List, none was prescribed by the generic name. Rate of injection use was 7.54% in our study. Registration number of the doctor was absent in 100% of the prescriptions. Errors such as omitting the mention of allergy status, follow-up advice and directions of use were common. Almost 8% prescriptions were illegible (grade 3) and 66.8% were legible with difficulty (grade 2). Conclusion: Majority of the prescriptions were incomplete and poly-pharmacy was evident in our study. Regular auditing and feedback is necessary for imbibing safe prescribing practices. Doctors need to be made aware about the errors and the recommended guidelines.
Authors and Affiliations
Marya Ahsan, Iram Shaifali, Ayaz Khurram Mallick, Hari Om Kumar Singh, Swetabh Verma, Amritanshu Shekhar
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP231508
- DOI 10.17511
- Views 77
- Downloads 0
Laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal versus open mesh lichtenstein repair of inguinal hernia: a comparative analysis
Background: Inguinal hernia repair is a commonly performed surgery usually managed by open surgical mesh repair. Nowadays many patients are demanding laparoscopic hernia repair. Laparoscopic hernioplasty has a shorter re...
A comparative study on the efficacy of first vs second blood culture set in the diagnosis of bacteraemia in Central Referral Hospital, Sikkim, India
Background: An important but controversial subject is the number of blood culture sets required for the diagnosis of blood stream infection (BSI) and also the use of appropriate antibiotics to treat bacteremia. This pape...
Psycho physical test in normal individual and diabetic patients with and without diabetic retinopathy: comparative study
Purpose: To investigate the differentiating ability of psycho physical test which include contrast sensitivity function (CSF), dark adaptation (DA) and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in detecting functional losses i...
Interrelationship of serum TSH with BMI in patients with thyroid disorders
Introduction: The endocrine system is evaluated primarily by measuring hormone concentrations, thereby arming the clinician with valuable diagnostic information. Thyroid Hormones which increase the basal metabolic rate a...
Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction: Experience of a tertiary care centre in Kerala
Background: There is limited data regarding the prevalence of thyroid disorders in India, and this is the first study to assess their prevalence in northern Kerala. Methods: All subjects who underwent blood sampling for...