Abstract

PRESCRIPTION PATTERN OF ANTIBIOTIC IN OUT-PATIENT PEDIATRIC DEPARTMENT, (CMCTH)

*Suman Karki and Ashish Gautam

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Antibiotics, also known as antimicrobial agent are used in the prevention and treatment of bacterial infection. Antimicrobial resistance is a global public health challenge, which has been accelerated by the overuse of antibiotics worldwide. Nepal is one of the major contributors to the growing burden of anti-microbial resistance due to widespread irrational use of antibiotics along with poor health care systems, poor infection control and prevention measures. Method: This was a descriptive cross sectional study done in the out-patient Pediatric Department of Chitwan Medical College, from December 2022 to February 2022 for the duration of two month, a total of 155 patients participated in the study and the data was collected using Proforma as a tool. The entry and analysis was done in SPSS 26. The results were expressed as frequency and percentage. Result: The age group 0-2 years were the highest percentage of patients (29%) among the 155 cases studied. Males made up (51.6%) of the participants, while females made up (48.4%). The majority of patients (70.2%) were diagnosed with a upper respiratory tract infection, whereas just (1.9%) were diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia.Antibiotics were prescribed (92.7%) as a single dose. Antibiotics were prescribed in a fixed dosage form in (72.3%) of cases while antibiotic in the penicillins were prescribed in the majority of cases (69.7%). Antibiotics were provided in suspension dosage form in (51.6%) of cases. Most of the antibiotics were prescribed from Essential Drug List which includes (96.8%) of cases. Discussion: In pediatric patients, beta-lactam antibiotics were the most commonly given and preferred medicines for combination therapy. The most common condition, Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, was diagnosed to be the underlying cause among pediatric patients. Males were found in greater numbers than females. The 0-2 year old age group was the most vulnerable to bacterial illness. Essential Drug List prescribed the majority of the antibiotics. Antibiotics from the penicillins were the most commonly prescribed in the Out-patient Department of Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital.. In the majority of the prescriptions, only one antibiotic was prescribed. Prescribing by brand name was common practice in Chitwan Medical College. Suspension was widely used as a dose method. Conclusion: According to our findings, physicians should follow the following guidelines like WHO prescribing indicator, standard clinical guidelines, practical workshops, purposeful training based on problem solving.

Keywords: Pediatric, Antibiotic, Prescription Pattern, Out-patient, Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital.