EVALUATION OF PRESCRIBING PATTERN OF DOCTORS FOR RATIONAL DRUG THERAPY

Objective: To study the prescribing patterns of doctors in Allahabad district for evaluation of their rationality. Methods: Prescriptions written by the consultants in Private (P.S.) and Service Sectors (S.S.) were collected and studied retrospectively under two heads: (a) whether the prescriptions written by the Doctors are in conformity with the general format (b) whether the drugs prescribed by them are rational. The study was conducted on the 200 prescriptions comprising of 92 prescriptions of PS and 108 prescriptions of SS. Results: Audit of the prescription pattern revealed that most of the prescriptions did not conform to the pattern of a typical prescription. Eighty five percent of them were without the age of the patient, which includes 30% of the paediatric prescriptions. Superscription was not mentioned in 71% of the prescriptions. Inscription, subscription and signature were inadequate in 50%, 18% and 35% of the prescriptions, respectively. In these 200 prescriptions drugs were inappropriately administered in more than half (52 %) and it was more common among the consultants in P.S. (65%) than in S.S. (41%). Forty percent of the prescriptions showed overprescribing. The tendency of polypharmacy was more in P.S. (5.05 medications per prescription) than S.S. (3.52). Interacting drugs were prescribed in 10% cases and banned drug formulations were prescribed in 3% cases. Conclusion: Large number of prescriptions do not conform to ideal pattern and lack in their rationality.