Assessment of rational use of drugs using World Health Organization prescribing and patient care indicators in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the rational use of drug use using World Health Organization (WHO)prescribing and patient care indicators in a tertiary care hospital. 180 prescriptions were analyzed. 636 drugs wereprescribed in total. The mean age group of patients was 37.14±19.54 years. 93.3 % of prescriptions contain less thanor equal to five drugs. Anti-ulcer drugs, vitamin supplements, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are mostcommonly prescribed. The average number of drugs per encounter was 3.53, 29.77% drugs were prescribed bygeneric names, 2.77% prescriptions contain injection formulations, 31.66% prescriptions contain antibiotics, and96.85% drugs are from essential drugs list. The average consultation time and dispensing time were 4.57 mins and175.8 secs respectively. The percentage of drugs dispensed was 83.82%, the percentage of drugs adequately labeledwas 0%, and the percentage of patients knowing the correct dose was 67.77%. Except for the percentage of injectionsprescribed, remaining prescribing indicators should be improved to reach optimal value suggested by WHO. Exceptfor dispensing time, remaining patient care indicators should be improved to reach optimal value suggested byWHO. A clinical pharmacist can help improve rational drug use by improving scores of the indicators where everpossible.