| Inappropriate antibiotic prescription among paediatrics leads to increased costs, wasting of resources and also
exposure to adverse drug events. Promoting appropriateness and evaluation of prescribing patterns improves rational drug
use and decreases errors. Aims & Objectives: To study the prescribing pattern and appropriateness of antibiotics among
paediatric patients in a tertiary care hospital. And also assess the essentiality status of medicines prescribed. Methodology:
A prospective observational drug utilization study was conducted in Pediatric IPD & OPD at Karuna Medical College,
Vilayodi, Chittur for a period of 6 months. The study is based on data collected from 150 patients visited the pediatric
department. Results: In a total of 150 patients males (61%) were higher than females (39%). Most patients belonged to the
age group of 1-12 years (53.3%). The most common antibiotic prescribed belonged to the class of Cephalosporins (47.2%)
followed by beta lactams (26.7%) The most commonly prescribed antibiotic was found to be Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid
(24.4%) followed by ceftriaxone (21%). The average number of antibiotics prescribed is 1.46±0.74. Out of the 150
prescriptions analysed 73(49%) were found to be appropriate while 77(51%) were found to be inappropriate. Of the total
611 drugs prescribed, 428 (70%) medicines were listed according to the essential medicine list of children, and 183
(29.9%) were found to be non-essntial. Conclusion: Inappropriate antibiotic therapy was prevalent in the study. Emphasis
on proper diagnosis and treatment guidelines may help rational drug use and improve the prescribing trends while
following essentiality status.ddd |
