Utilization pattern of drugs among dermatological outpatients in a tertiary care hospital of eastern India

Objectives: Drug utilization study enables us to describe the pattern of prescribed drugs as well as to detect the problems in drug prescribing and use. This study was undertaken to reveal the same among dermatological outpatient practice with an objective to provide remedial messages to prescribers and to provide the baseline data to drug and health policy makers and planners. Methods: A total of 325 prescriptions from dermatological outpatients were randomly selected and analysed using the guidelines of World Health Organization (WHO) to find the various parameters of prescribing indicators and the pattern of prescribed drugs. Results: The average number of drugs per encounter was 2.28. Drugs prescribed by their generic name were 15.07% and those prescribed from national essential medicines list were 23.42%. Antihistamines, antifungals, corticosteroids and antibiotics were four most frequently prescribed therapeutic classes. One systemic as well as one topical medicine belonging to same therapeutic class was prescribed on about one-third of totally analyzed prescriptions. Cetrizine was the most common individually prescribed drug and fluconazole was the most commonly prescribed antifungal. Conclusions: Polypharmacy, inclination for branded medicines and prescribing out of essential medicines list are the common problems that need proper attention of dermatological doctors to rationalize their practice. Educational and managerial interventions can minimize these problems.