An Evaluation of Drug Prescription Pattern among Outpatients in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Gujarat

Abstract

Background: Assessing prescription practices is a crucial tactic for encouraging sensible medication usage and raising the standard of medical care. The World Health Organization's (WHO) core prescribing indicators form the basis for prescription audits, which offer an impartial method of evaluating drug use and pinpointing areas in need of improvement. Using WHO prescribing indicators, this study assessed outpatient prescribing patterns in a Gujarati tertiary care teaching hospital.
Materials and Methods: Over a period over a year, a cross-sectional observational study was carried out at GMERS Medical College in Himmatnagar. Written informed consent was obtained before newly registered outpatients from different clinical departments were enrolled. The completeness, readability, conformity with Standard Treatment Guidelines (STGs), adherence to WHO core prescription indicators, and prescribing from the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) were all evaluated. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.
Results: A total of 1,639 medicines from 476 outpatient prescriptions were assessed. 94.2% of prescriptions had multiple medications, and the average number of medications prescribed per prescription was 3.3. Antimicrobials were prescribed in 36.3% of encounters, while vitamins and iron supplements were included in 36.0%. Fixed-dose combinations were present in 19.3% of prescriptions. Major deficiencies were identified in prescription documentation, with omission of patient instructions (97.8%), follow-up advice (92.4%), diagnosis (65.0%), and drug dose (58.8%) being the most frequent.
Conclusion: Although prescribing practices demonstrated satisfactory adherence to STGs and appropriate documentation of dosage form, frequency, and route of administration, important deficiencies in prescription completeness and a high prevalence of polypharmacy were observed. Regular prescription audits, continuous prescriber education, and implementation of standardized or electronic prescribing systems may improve prescription quality, promote rational medicine use, and enhance patient safety.