STUDY OF PRESCRIPTION WRITING AND ADHERENCE TO WHO CORE PRESCRIBING INDICATORS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Omair Abdullah Asif*, Md. Anwar Habib, Mohammad Amirul Islam

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out at Outpatient Department (OPD) of North Bengal Medical College Hospital (NBMCH), Sirajgonj, Bangladesh during the period of July-2017 to June-2019. The study was aimed to evaluate the mechanics of prescription order writing (Format) with legibility as well as clarity of prescriptions and adherence with WHO core prescribing indicators. A total number of 761 prescriptions, were collected randomly from OPD of different disciplines and copied by using digital camera with the consent of the patients and authorities. Among 761 prescriptions of NBMCH, address of the patient, age, gender, body weight was not mentioned in 96.85%, 16.60%, 30.62% and 60.05% of prescriptions respectively. Registration number of Doctors given by Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) were not mentioned in 100% of prescriptions. The symbol RX, strength (dose) of drugs, duration of treatment and instructions to the patients were absent in 4.34%, 20.63%, 1.58% and 42.31% of prescriptions. Legibility of prescriptions i.e. no problem in reading all aspects of prescription was 70.57% at OPD of NBMCH. The clarity of instructions was found to be good in 65.17% of prescriptions, whereas clarity of dose (very clear) was 66.10% of prescriptions. Regarding the WHO core prescribing indicators, average number drugs per prescription was 4.40. Percentages of antibiotics were 23.46%, generic name of drugs were 0.72%, injections were 5.70% and percentage of drugs from EDL were 30.90% respectively. The prescribers did not follow good prescribing practices. Therefore, interventions are needed to improve the quality of prescription writing among the Doctors in the study area.

Keywords: Prescription format, Legibility and Clarity, WHO core prescribing indicators.