Drug Prescription Patterns in Free Health Camp: A Retrospective Analysis of Drug Utilization

Background: Health camps are mainly organised to raise awareness about the needs of those population without access to basic healthcare facilities and also offer basic medical treatments. This study set out to determine the pattern of medication prescription in a free health camp. Methods: A one-day cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in the rural Sherpur area of Maner block of Patna district, Bihar on 13th of December 2022. This free health camp was planned to assess and measure the patterns of prescribed medicine and their distribution free of cost. Utilising a record kept at the health camp, information about the patient's demographics, the provisional diagnosis or diagnosis of their ailments and the medication they were provided was gathered. Results: The study involved total number of 572 patients overall with 740 conditions were diagnosed. The musculoskeletal (32.97%), respiratory (17.43%) and digestive system (16.35%) each accounted for the majority of diagnoses. A total of 1927 drugs were distributed, most commonly prescribed being anti-inflammatory (Mohallil e auram), analgesic (Musakkin e alam), emollient (Mulaiyyin), expectorant (Munaffis e balgham), digestive (Hazim) and carminative (Kasir e riyah) etc., like Majoon Dabidulward, Habbe Suranjan, Majoon Jograj Gogul, Roghane Surkh, Lori cough syrup, Wheeznil syrup, Habbe Kabid Naushadri, Habbe Muqil etc. Conclusion: Majority of the health camp attendees were suffering from musculoskeletal problems followed by respiratory and digestive problems. All the drugs distributed were mostly herbal origin followed by few mineral origins like Mohallil e auram, Musakkin e alam, Munaffis e balgham, Mulattif e balgham, Kasir e riyah, Mulaiyyin, Hazim, Musaffi e khoon, Muqawwi e aam, Habis Qabis, Muqawwi e Jigar etc.