Subscribe to RSS
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1770991
Prescription Practices and Outcome Analysis of PICU Patients at a Newly Established Tertiary Care Hospital—A Retrospective Study
Abstract
Prescription analysis studies play a crucial role in monitoring prescription patterns and establishing guidelines for effective drug delivery and health care management. Given the physiological differences between the pediatric and adult populations, it is essential to analyze the prescription records specifically for pediatric patients, considering their unique diseases, drugs, and dosages. The objectives of this study were to analyze the prescribing patterns of drugs, rationality, outcomes, and antimicrobial use and drugs from National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients. A retrospective study design was employed, and data were collected from medical records, including demographic information, diagnoses, drug details, and treatment outcomes of PICU patients. The collected data were then analyzed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) indicators for rational drug use, WHO Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRe) guidelines for antimicrobial use, and the proportion of essential drugs prescribed. Descriptive statistics was used to express the data in this study. A total of 184 patient records were analyzed, with 57.6% were males. On average, 4.5 drugs were prescribed per prescription, with injections and syrups comprising nearly 28% each. Approximately 71.5% of prescriptions contained generic drug names. Furthermore, 49% of the prescribed drugs were listed in the NLEM. Antibiotics were present in 50% of the prescriptions, with 50% of them falling under the WHO AWaRe Watch category and 31% in Access category. Majority of the drugs being prescribed in the PICU were with generic names, and less than half the prescriptions contained antibiotics. Watch class of antibiotics was most commonly prescribed.
Ethical Approval
The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee.
Publication History
Received: 08 April 2023
Accepted: 04 June 2023
Article published online:
21 July 2023
© 2023. Thieme. All rights reserved.
Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany
-
References
- 1 Jose J, Devassykutty D. Paediatric prescription analysis in a primary health care institution. J Clin Diagn Res 2016; 10 (11) FC05-FC08
- 2 Kumari A, Agarwal SC, Goyal P. Pattern of drug prescription in the pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital with emphasis on antimicrobial utilization. J Pediatr Crit Care 2019; 6 (05) 29-34
- 3 Bamel VV, Shahani SR. Study of antibiotic prescription pattern in PICU of a tertiary care hospital. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol 2018; 7 (12) 2319-2324
- 4 Sindhu S, Ahmed SM. Prescription pattern analysis of antibiotic use in a pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital in South India. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol 2018; 7 (06) 1094-1099
- 5 Fathima F, Palatty PL, Mamatha J. et al. Drug prescribing trends and safety profile in pediatric care: observations from a tertiary care center. Indian J Med Spec 2021; 12: 82-88
- 6 Sustainable development goals (SDGs): Goal 3. Target 3.8. Accessed March 28, 2023, at: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/208286
- 7 How to investigate drug use in health facilities - Selected Drug use Indicators. Accessed March 28, 2023, at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/60519/WHO_DAP_93.1.pdf
- 8 The WHO AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) antibiotic book. Accessed March 28, 2023, at: https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240062382
- 9 National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). 2022 / Ministry of Health and Family Welfare / GOI. Accessed March 28, 2023, at: https://main.mohfw.gov.in/sites/default/files/Notification%20and%20Report%20on%20National%20List%20of%20Essential%20Medicines%2C%202022.pdf
- 10 Chabhadiya P, Kubavat A. A study of drug utilization pattern, safety, and drug interactions in pediatric intensive care unit at tertiary care hospital. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol 2023; 13 (10) 1-5
- 11 Magaji BS, Ashwin B, Saraswathy GR, Murthy MK, Ramya R. Trends of prescription pattern in pediatric intensive care unit: an observational study. Value Health 2018; 21 (02) S6
- 12 Childhood diseases / UNICEF. Accessed April 5, 2023, at: https://www.unicef.org/health/childhood-diseases
- 13 Swathi J, Vinitha E, Sudharsana K, Vijisha R, Baby B, Chandrasekar K. Prescription auditing in pediatric in-patients at secondary care hospital: a cross sectional survey. Res J Pharm Technol 2020; 13 (08) 3797