Drug utilization pattern in patients of upper respiratory tract infections in pediatrics outpatient department at a tertiary care hospital
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20232571Keywords:
Drug utilization study, Paediatric population, Essential medicine, Prescription patternAbstract
Background: Upper respiratory tract infections are the most common and frequently occurring infections in the pediatric population. These infections include conditions like common cold, laryngitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, acute rhinitis, acute rhinosinusitis and acute otitis media. Young children have an average of 6-8 colds per year, however 10 -15% of children have at least 12 infections per year. This study concentrates on prescription pattern of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in children. primary objective was to study the prescription pattern of drugs used in URTI in pediatric outpatient department and the secondary objective was to determine whether the drugs being prescribed comply with those listed in the National list of essential medicines.
Methods: This study was a Cross-sectional, observational study conducted at the Pediatric Outpatient Department in a tertiary care hospital, India. The data was collected from patients visiting Pediatrics OPD from June 2021 to December 2021 after taking written informed consent. Sample size was calculated to be 303.
Results: Total 943 drugs were prescribed for 303 patients with an average of 3.11±1.15 drugs per prescription. Most common class of drugs prescribed was Antipyretics of which Paracetamol was the most common drug. Antibiotics were prescribed for 19.80% patients & combination of Amoxicillin and Clavulanic acid was the most common antibiotic prescribed. 68.29% drugs were prescribed by generic name. 43.16% drugs were prescribed from National List of Essential Medicines 2015.
Conclusions: The study revealed that the majority of children suffering from URTI were below 5 years of age. Our study highlighted the prescribing.
References
Joshi U, Hishikar R, Agrawal S, Halwai A, Kirtania L, Kurrey K. Study of drug use in outdoor pediatric patients of upper respiratory tract infections in a tertiary care hospital. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol. 2015; 4(5):1004-8.
De Sutter AI, Saraswat A, van Driel ML. Antihistamines for the common cold. Cochrane Datab System Rev. 2015;11:6-11.
Tiwari P, Ahlawat R, Gupta G. Prescription practice in patients of upper respiratory tract infection at a pediatric outpatient clinic in Punjab. Indian J Pharm Pract. 2014;7(2):26-32.
Alkahtani SA. Drug utilization pattern of upper respiratory tract infections in pediatric at Najran university hospital, KSA. Biomed Res. 2017;28(20): 8981-6.
Santiago MC, John V, Williams L. The common cold. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. In: Kliegman RM, Blum NJ, Shah SS, Tasker RC, Wilson KM, Behrman RE (eds). 21st ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2019:185-88.
Jain N, Lodha R, Kabra SK. Upper respiratory tract infections. Indian J Pediatr. 2001;68(12):1135-8.
Kabra SK. Disorders of Respiratory System. In: Paul VK, Bagga A, (eds.) Ghai Textbook of Essential Pediatrics. 8th ed. New Delhi: CBS Publishers and Distributors Pvt. Ltd; 2013:371-95.
Das B, Sarkar C, Majumder AG. Medication use for pediatric upper respiratory tract infections. Fund Clin Pharmacol. 2006;20:385-90.
Long JC, Williams HM, Jani S, Arnolda G, Ting HP, Molloy CJ, et al. Assessing the appropriateness of the management of upper respiratory tract infection in Australian children: A population- based sample survey. Br Med J. 2019;9:1-7.
Meena DK, Mathaiyan J. Drug utilization research: a review. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol. 2019;8(2):354-61.
Kastury N, Singh S, Ansari KU. An audit of prescription for rational use of fixeddose drug combinations. Indian J Pharmacol. 1999;31:367-9.
Sample size calculator. Available at: https://www.s urveysystem.com/sscalc.html. Accessed on 05 December 2022.
Das B, Sarkar C, Majumder AG. Medication use for pediatric upper respiratory tract infections. Fund Clin Pharmacol. 2006;20:385-90.
Mungrue K, Brown T, Hayes I, Ramroop S, Thurston P, Pereira LP. Drugs in upper respiratory tract infections in pediatric patients in North Trinidad. Pharm Pract. 2009;7(1):29-33.
Joseph N, Bharathi DR, Sreenivasa B, Nataraj GR, George N, Safdar M. Prescribing pattern of drugs in upper respiratory tract infections in pediatric out patients. Int J Contemp Pediatr. 2016;3(3):1006-8.
Alkahtani SA. Drug utilization pattern of upper respiratory tract infections in pediatric at Najran university hospital, KSA. Biomed Res. 2017;28(20): 8981-6.
Mohsin N, Shahzad N, Akhtar MS, Zahak A. Drug utilization pattern of upper respiratory tract infections in Pediatrics, at a university teaching hospital, New Delhi. Bull Environ Pharmacol Life Sci. 2016;6:22-7.
Tripathi K.D. NSAIDs and Antipyretic- Analgesic. In: Tripathi KD. Essentials of Medical Pharmacology. 8th ed. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd; 2019:209-26.
Ghosh A, Das AK, Gure PK, Pati S. An observational study of drug use in upper respiratory tract infection in patients attending ENT outpatient department in a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata. Asian J Pharma Clin Res. 2015;8(4):37-40.
Sankhla S, Kanwar S, Kumar Mahawar D. A retrospective study of prescribing pattern for acute respiratory infections in children in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Int J Pharma Sci Res. 2017;8:3911-6.