Abstract

Background: Drug utilization studies (DUS) provide insight into recent trend of drug usage and facilitate rationality of prescribed drugs. Few DUS have been conducted in ophthalmology.

Aim and Objective: To analyse the prescription pattern in outpatients of the ophthalmology department at a tertiary care teaching hospital.

Materials and Methods: A prospective, observational and cross-sectional study was conducted at GCS Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Ahmedabad. All patients who visited ophthalmic outpatient department were enrolled and necessary data were recorded regarding drugs prescribed in pre-defined case record form. Data analysis was carried out using Microsoft Excel.

Results: A total of 388 prescriptions were analysed. Average number of drugs and fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) per prescription were 2.47 (95% CI, 2.29–2.64) and 0.44 (95% CI, 0.36–0.51), respectively. Drugs were prescribed in different dosage forms with eye drops being the most common (95.1%) followed by tablet (12.3%), ointments (8.5%), capsules (2.8%), syrup (1.1%), and injections (0.3%). One or more dosage forms were seen per prescription. Total 957 drugs were prescribed, out of which drugs with brands name and generic name were 88.4% and 11.6%, respectively. Total FDCs prescribed were 17.5%. Overall, 43.5% of prescriptions had antibiotics ranging from 1 to 5 per prescription and 25% of antibiotics were seen out of total drugs.

Conclusion: Most of the drugs prescribed were in the form of drops. FDCs and antimicrobial use have been increasing in the management of ophthalmic diseases. Less numbers of drugs were prescribed by generic names.

Key words: Drug Utilization Studies; Ophthalmology; Fixed Dose Combination; Antibiotics