Abstract

Prescription monitoring study was conducted to rationalize the prescription writing habits of the physicians and to assess the pharmacy practice at the dispensing section by the pharmacists at the Panjab University Health Centre. Five hundred prescriptions were monitored by random chance method and data were filled as per WHO guideline based prescription monitoring performa. Study reported name, age, sex and disease diagnosed as 100, 38.4, 42, 12.8%, respectively of the total prescriptions. Analgesic antiinflammatory drugs (23.0%) were highly prescribed followed by antibiotics (20.7%), antihistamines (16.7%), gastrointestinal drugs (10.4%), vitamins (6.6%), cardiovascular drugs (5.8%), antiinfectives (5.2%), minerals (3.9%), steroids (3.0%), antiasthmatics (2.2%), antifungal agents (1.5%), vaccineisera (1.0%). Doses were mentioned for 19.3% of the antibiotics prescribed. Diagnosis was written only in 12.8% of the prescription monitored. No written instruction on the container was noticed in any of the dispensed drug by the pharmacist. 85.3% of the prescribed drugs were available from Panjab University Health Centre pharmacy, of which 43.6% were dispensed in loose envelopes (without labeling). Only 17.2% of the patients knew about the nature of medication prescribed to them and 68.3% were aware of the medication. The study highlighted certain lacunae in the area of prescribing, instructions to patients and labeling of drugs. However, a need to monitor the prescriptions was felt by proper involvement of physicians, pharmacists and other staff in order to improve the prescribing practice of the physicians as well as dispensing attitudes of pharmacists.