A study of antibiotic prescribing pattern in the geriatrics department at a tertiary care hospital

Objectives: The objectives of this study were as follows: (1) To study the antibiotics prescribed among the geriatric patients according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) access, watch and reserve (AWaRe) classification and WHO and national list of essential medicines (NLEM). (2) To categorise the prescribed antibiotics based on anatomic, therapeutic chemical (ATC) classification. Materials and Method: The study was a prospective observational study conducted from July 2023 to June 2024 at JSS Hospital, Mysuru. It included a total of 200 prescriptions for geriatric inpatients. A descriptive statistical analysis of the data was done and indicated in tables and graphs as frequency and percentages. Results: A total of 343 antibiotics were prescribed in 200 in-patient prescriptions (59% females and 41% males). Among them, 70.83% were listed in the WHO essential medicine list. Most frequently prescribed antibiotics were the third-generation cephalosporins (Cefoperazone + Sulbactam-30.90%). Further, the antibiotics were also grouped according to the WHO-AWaRe categorisation, 33.34% in access, 45.83% in watch and 8.33% in reserve groups, with 12.5% in the not recommended fixed dose combinations category. Conclusion: Third-generation cephalosporins were the high-priority critically important antibiotics prescribed for specific indications. Irrational antibiotic utilisation can pose a risk of the development of antibiotic resistance. Regular effective antibiotic stewardship strategies and cautious utilisation of the reserve group of drugs can rationalise antibiotic utilisation and alleviate the antibiotic resistance and untoward adverse drug effects among the geriatric patients.