Pharmaco-Economic Aspects of Antibiotic Prescriptions in Clinics of Kathmandu

Abstract

Antibiotics (AB) are the most widely prescribed group of drugs and their use is associated with increasing rate of AB resistance. Nearly one third of prescriptions of physicians for colds, upper respiratory tract infections and bronchitis are of AB as documented in previous studies. Antibiotic use is associated with increased cost of financial burden, which may be difficult to be borne by the patients in developing countries like Nepal. The objective was study the prescribing pattern of Antibiotic preparations in various diseases and to find out how the treatment could become more pharmaco-economic without compromising the quality of service. A cross sectional study of prescription pattern of antibiotics/drugs in which antibiotics were used from randomly selected 20 private clinics of four major specialties in Kathmandu valley. Total No. of prescriptions audited were 386, average number of drugs/per prescription was 2.74. Maximum antibiotics were prescribed for age group 21-40 years in gynecological, surgical and medical problems, in Pediatrics maximum AB were prescribed between 1-12 years. Minimum antibiotics were prescribed between 13-20 years for gynecological and Pediatric problems. In medical and surgical problems, minimums AB were administered between 41-60 years. Above 60 years almost no AB were used. Males were prescribed more AB than females (73% for surgical, 62% for medical and 53% for Pediatric problems) Only in 20.25% patients, AB were prescribed after proper diagnosis and sensitivity tests Maximum cost of prescription was 510 Nepali rupees (NR) for treatment of STD in Gynecology. Key Words: Antibiotics, Cost, Human Immune deficiency Virus, Kathmandu, Private Clinics, Pharmacoeconomic, Sexually Transmitted Diseases.