title: Assessment of quality of prescribing in patients of hypertension at primary and secondary health care facilities using the Prescription Quality Index (PQI) tool.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the quality of prescribing in hypertension in primary and secondary health care settings using the Prescription Quality Index (PQI) tool and to assess the reliability of this tool.
  
  
  METHODS
  An observational cross-sectional study was carried out for 6 months in order to assess quality of prescribing of antihypertensive drugs using Prescription Quality Index (PQI) at four primary (PHC) and two secondary (SHC) health care facilities. Patients attending these facilities for at least 3 months were included. Complete medical history and prescriptions received were noted. Total and criteria wise PQI scores were derived for each prescription. Prescriptions were categorized as poor (score of ≤31), medium (score 32-33) and high quality (score 34-43) based on PQI total score. Psychometric analysis using factor analysis was carried out to assess reliability and validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total 73 hypertensive patients were included. Mean age was 61.2 ± 11 years with 35 (48%) patients above 65 years of age. Total PQI score was 26 ± 11. There was a significant difference in PQI score between PHC and SHC (P < 0.05) Out of 73 prescriptions, 43 (59%) were of poor quality with PQI score <31. The value of Cronbach's α for the entire 22 criteria of PQI was 0.71 suggesting good reliability of PQI tool in our setting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on PQI scores, quality of prescribing in hypertensive patients was poor, somewhat better in primary as compared to secondary health care facility. PQI is reliable for measuring prescribing quality in hypertension in Indian set up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Ramanbhai Patel College of Pharmacy, Charotar University of Science and Technology, CHARUSAT campus, Changa, Anand, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Jalpa Vashishth
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Suthar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Smt. Nathiba Hargovandas Lakhmichand Municipal Medical College, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Varsha J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Patel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents
keywords: Hypertension; prescribing quality; prescription quality index tool; rational prescribing