Abstract

STUDY ON DRUG UTILIZATION PATTERN OF COMMON SKIN DISEASES IN DERMATOLOGY OPD OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Anju Mary Scaria*, Raichel Johnson, Teny Prakash, Ameera A., Nithin Manohar R., Jomin George Joseph and Santhosh M Mathews

ABSTRACT

Background: Skin is the largest and the most exposed organ of human body, it is most vulnerable to attack by external biological agents like microorganisms. Skin diseases affects all age groups from neonates to elderly. The assessment of drug utilization is important for clinical, educational and pharmacoeconomic purposes. Aim: To assess the prescribing pattern of drugs used in outpatient department of dermatology. Objective: To assess the prescribing pattern of drugs used in dermatology department. Materials and methods: It is a hospital-based retrospective (observational) study conducted in the department of dermatology in which the demographic details, information related to the drug treatment of the sample population are collected and analyzed. Results: In this study a total of 100 patients were analysed in which 55% were male patients and 45% patients were females and most patients were from age group 50-65 years (25%). In our study population psoriasis was the most common disease, about 24% followed by dermatitis 11%. Antihistamines was the most prescribed class of drugs 22.90% followed by corticosteroids 20.10%. Oral route was most commonly prescribed 57.50% followed by topical route about 39.60%. Tablets were most commonly prescribed about 50.80%, followed by ointment 15.0%. Conclusion: Drug utilization study is an effective tool to promote rational drug prescribing. This study mainly focused on the dermatological prescribing pattern of drugs in Dermatology outpatient department. This study reveals that generic prescription was low and suggests that efforts must be made to encourage prescribers for generic prescribing which have a multitude of benefits including cost

Keywords: Skin diseases, Dermatology, Prescription.