S. Anandkumar, G. Janani, Jeny Mary John, Jessly Chacko, Juvita Joy
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The objective of the study was to evaluate the drug utilization evaluation of antibiotics in a multispecialty hospital. A retrospective study was carried out at Vivekananda Medical Care Hospital, Tiruchengode.
Materials and Methods: The study was analyzed using the National Treatment Guidelines for antimicrobial use in infectious disease in 2016. All inpatients prescribed with antibiotics were analyzed for the utilization pattern of antibiotics. Two hundred and five prescriptions containing antibiotics were analyzed. A total of 383 antibiotics were identified from all the prescription. In this, 50.73% was given as empirical therapy and 49.26% as definitive therapy.
Results: Ceftriaxone (79.78%) was the widely prescribed antibiotic. Culture sensitivity test was done only in 101 (49.26%) prescriptions. Escherichia coli was the major infectious organism. From 101 culture-positive patients, 65 (64.35%) patients had undergone de-escalation. During the study period, drug-related problems such as drug interaction, medication error, and drug duplication were identified.
Conclusion: Antibiotics were widely prescribed in all the departments of the multispecialty hospital of study. The status of antibiotic prescribing pattern in this hospital was analyzed. Without a proper antibiotic policy, it will never be possible to reduce the irrational use of such important drugs. Regular prescription auditing along with implementation of standard protocol can only improve the current situations.
Key words: Antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance, sensitivity, utilization