title: Study of Drug Utilization Pattern for Skin Diseases in Dermatology OPD of an Indian Tertiary Care Hospital - A Prescription Survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Skin diseases are the major contributors of disease burden in society. It affects individuals of all ages, neonates to elderly. Owing to its chronic nature, it causes serious impact on quality of life and financial status of the sufferer and his family. The problem gets compounded with the inappropriate and irrational use of medicines. Periodic prescription audit in form of drug utilization study is a way to improve the quality of prescription and curb the menace of irrational prescribing which has become a global phenomenon.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to determine the drug utilization pattern and assess the economic burden of the patient with skin disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  It was a prospective, cross-sectional study conducted over a period of three months from January to March 2015 in newly diagnosed cases attending outpatient department of Skin and VD, IGIMS, Patna. The prescriptions were analysed with the help of descriptive statistics and results were expressed in percentage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total 752 prescriptions were analysed during the study. Male patients were lesser as compared to female as male to female ratio was 0.88. Over 50% of patients were in adolescent age group i.e. 21-40 years. Acne (17.95%) was most common disease in the study population followed by eczema and Dermatophytosis. Among the drugs, antihistaminics (24.13%) were prescribed most frequently followed by antifungals and antibiotics. Topical agents constituted almost 60% of the total prescription and average number of drugs per prescription was 5.13, irrespective of the dosage forms prescribed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This drug utilization study provides an insight to the prescriber regarding various issues related to polypharmacy, cost analysis and prevalent disease pattern in the region. This study also suggests periodic evaluation of prescription pattern to monitor and improve quality of prescription in other departments of the hospital.
authors.affiliation: Senior Resident, Department of Pharmacology, IGIMS , Sheikhpura, Patna, Bihar, India .
authors.forename: Anuj Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pathak
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology SRMSIMS , Bareilly, UP, India .
authors.forename: Subodh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, IGIMS , Sheikhpura, Patna, Bihar, India .
authors.forename: Manish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, IGIMS , Sheikhpura, Patna, Bihar, India .
authors.forename: Lalit
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Pharmacology, IGIMS , Sheikhpura, Patna, Bihar, India .
authors.forename: Harihar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dikshit
keywords: Antifungals; Antihistaminics; Cost analysis; Drug utilization study