PRESCRIPTION AUDIT IN OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENTS OF A SUPERSPECIALITY HOSPITAL IN NORTH-EASTERN INDIA

Objective: The study was conducted to evaluate prescribing patterns, assess adherence to standard treatment guidelines, and identify areas for improvement in prescription practices across superspeciality OPDs of a tertiary care hospital in Northeast India. Methods: A cross-sectional prescription audit study was conducted over a 3-month period in the superspeciality OPDs of a tertiary care hospital in Northeast India. A total of 600 prescriptions were systematically sampled and analysed using WHO/INRUD prescribing indicators. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and appropriate analytical tests. Results: The present study demonstrates that the OPD registration number, date of consultation, and patient gender were consistently recorded in all prescriptions (100%), but complete patient names missing in 1.2% of prescriptions. The handwritings on 11% of prescriptions were not legible. 78.9% of prescriptions included a record of the salient features of the clinical examination, and just 75.1% mentioned a presumptive or definitive diagnosis. The average number of drugs per prescription was 5.39, indicating a trend towards polypharmacy. 88% of drugs were prescribed by their generic names. Antibiotics were prescribed in 12% of encounters. Drugs used by parenteral route were approximately 5% and percentage of drugs prescribed from EDL (Essential Drug List) is 82%. A notable finding was that only 72% of the prescribed medicines were available in the hospital dispensary. Conclusion: The study shows excellent documentation of basic prescription elements and the generic prescribing rates are also commendable. But the trend of polypharmacy and inadequate drug availability require urgent attention.