Rational Use of Drugs-in Kalkini Upazila, Madaripur, a Prescription Based Study

Abstract

Rational use of drugs has multi- dimensional aspects which include medical, social and economical values. Medicines are one of the important basic needs for human being. The main objective of this study is to promote the "Rational use of medication" in Bangladesh in order to optimize the usefulness of medicines and help bring equity in their access to promote rational prescription, identify magnitude and nature of inappropriate drug utilization and factors which influence the behavior of prescribes and patients, understand the adverse impacts of inappropriate use of drugs; describe factors which influence the decision-making process and specific medication use problems, find out the way of improving rational use of drug by following WHO patterns. This study was conducted at Kalkini Upazila in Madaripur District under Dhaka division. One hospital was chosen to do this work. Patient based prescription Survey was conducted and Fifty five prescriptions of patients were collected prospectively between September and December 2010. The survey was conducted among the in-patients and out-patients. Patient consent was taken and their respective prescription was copied, the data was collected and evaluated by using WHO guidelines & INRUD indicators. In this study, it was found that the average number of drugs was 4.25±1.54 prescribed per encounter, the average number of drugs prescribed by Generic name was 0.127± 0.33 per encounter, the average number of drugs prescribed in Brand name was 4.12± 1.65, the average number of Prescriptions drugs was 1.36±.75 prescribed per encounter, the average number of OTe drugs was 2.56±1.1l prescribed per encounter, the average number of Essential drugs was .61±.78 prescribed per encounter, the average number of Antibiotics was 1±0.66 prescribed per encounter, the average number of Injections was 0.48±.48 prescribed per encounter, the average of Vitamins was 0.127 ±0.38 prescribed per encounter, average consulting time 2.9 (min) & average dispensing time was 3.3 (min). The adequately labeled drug was average 3.38 and this survey also shows that only 36% patients know about the drug dosing schedule and 64% patients don't know about dosage schedule. It was obvious that the prescribing pattern was not rational regarding some particular parameters. Ensuring that the correct drug is given to the appropriate patient should be a high priority for all health professionals.