Prescribing practices and pattern of antibacterials at tertiary care hospital in hilly state, Uttarakhand
Open accessAbstract
Background: Irrational prescribing of antibacterial is one of the major causes of development of antibacterial resistance, adverse drug reaction, and increased economic burden on health. Prescribing indicators are the best tool to assess the rational use of antibacterial as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO). This study to assess the prescribing practices and pattern of antibacterial agent in tertiary care hospital in hilly state Uttarakhand was conducted as a bed rock for introducing the antibiotic stewardship program. Aims and Objectives: To assess the prescribing pattern and practices of antibacterial and to provide starter for recommendations to the introduction of antimicrobial stewardship programme at our tertiary care center. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted from August 2022 to October 2022. It was an outpatient department based descriptive, cross sectional, prospective study. Prescription order generated with at least one medication was reviewed according to the WHO prescribing indicators and classified according to the WHO AWaRe classification and evaluated in line with Uttarakhand essential medicine list 2015 latest only available on public domain. Results: During the study, a total of 601 prescriptions were analyzed, in which 62.89% were female and 37.1% were males and most of the patients were of 15–64 years age group. Drugs prescribed by their generic name were 67.41% and majority of drug prescribed were from Uttarakhand essential drug list 2015 which is latest available on public domain. The average no of dug per encounter was higher (3.6 ± 1.6) than optimal 1.6–1.7 endorsed by the WHO. Out of all, only 1.1% of prescribed drugs were injectable. The most commonly used antibacterial was cefixime. The access group of antibiotics was accounting for 43% of total antibiotics. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that prescribing practices assessed by WHO prescribing indicators showed deviation from the WHO set standards. The study revealed polypharmacy and a comparatively smaller number of drugs prescribed with a generic name and from the Uttarakhand essential medicine list 2015 (latest). This study provides evidence for future guidelines and recommendations and a way forward for the establishment of an antibacterial stewardship program in our hospital. [Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol 2023; 13(12.000): 2580-2586]
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One major consequence of irrational drug use in treating infection is antibiotic resistance.
“One of the major consequences of irrational drug use in treating infection is antibiotic resistance.”
From Antibiotic-prescribing patterns in outpatient departments from a tertiary care hospital in Manipur using WHO AWaRe classification (2025) · cites this paper as [2]
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Christina, S., Nandeibam, R., R.L., P., Sangma, A. A., & Devi, H. S. (2025) · The Indian journal of medical research · doi:10.25259/ijmr_636_2025
- Authors
- Gulwani, R., Bhatt, C., & Gaur, S.
- Venue
- National Journal of Physiology Pharmacy and Pharmacology
- Publisher
- ScopeMed
- Published
- 2023
- Issue
- 0
- Pages
- 1
- ISSN
- 2231-3206 (ISSN-L)
- 2320-4672
- OpenAlex
- W4379177320
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 0.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- National Journal of Physiology Pharmacy and Pharmacology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology › Antibiotic Use and Resistance
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Pharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Medicine › Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
- Keywords
- antibiotic prescribing, antibacterial agents, rational drug use, WHO prescribing indicators, antibiotic stewardship, polypharmacy, generic drug names, essential medicines list, cefixime, AWaRe classification, Uttarakhand
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