title: Study of drug utilization pattern in dental OPD at tertiary care teaching hospital.
abstract: Irrational prescribing is a global phenomenon. The objective of the study was to find out the prescribing practices of dental prescribers in a tertiary care teaching hospital with special emphasis on the utilization of antimicrobial agents. A prospective study was conducted in the month of March 2000. A total of 491 prescriptions were collected randomly. Prescribing pattern was analyzed using WHO basic drug indicators. The average number of drugs for prescription was 2.4. 78.8% of all prescriptions contained antimicrobial agents. It was most commonly prescribed (40.37%) group of drugs followed by anti-inflammatory and analgesics (33.8%). Fixed dose combination of ampicillin and cloxacillin was most commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents. Prophylactic use of AMA (78%) was more than therapeutic purpose (21.9%). Prophylactic use of antimicrobial agents was irrational in all the cases as duration for the use of antimicrobial agents was 5.1 +/- 0.5 days. Fixed dose combinations (45%), drugs by brand name (98.5%) were frequently used. Drug prescribed from Essential Drug List was maximum when one drug was prescribed. Results indicate that there is a scope for improving prescribing habits and minimizing the use of antimicrobial agents. This could be facilitated by periodic education to the prescribers.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Pharmacology, LHMC and S.K. Hospitals, New Delhi, 110 001, India.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Rehan
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Kela
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003796:Dental Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009067:Mouthwashes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019338:Polypharmacy; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D004338:Drug Combinations; D009067:Mouthwashes