Assessment of Antimicrobial Use Pattern Using World Health Organization Prescribing Indicators at a Tertiary Hospital: A Prospective, Observational study

The use and misuse of antimicrobial agents need to be evaluated since misuse of antimicrobials may lead to increased adverse effects, resistance to antimicrobials, making illnesses more serious, and increasing expenses of health services. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of antimicrobial prescriptions at a tertiary hospital. This prospective, observational study was conducted at a tertiary hospital after obtaining ethical committee clearance. On a daily basis, data were collected from inpatient case sheets. In addition, some data were obtained from the pharmacy department. According to World Health Organization guidelines, specified indicators were applied and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics parameters. During the study period, 900 patient case sheets were included in the study and it was seen that 255 patients were prescribed antimicrobial agents. It was found that antibiotics were the most common type of antimicrobials prescribed. The average duration of prescribed antimicrobial treatment for each subject was 5.65 days and the average cost of antimicrobials prescribed per patient was 9422 INR (140 USD). It was observed that only for 10.58% of patients who were prescribed with antimicrobial agents, culture sensitivity test was performed. The use of antimicrobials in our study site was found to be less than optimal. Hence, there is a need to promote rational use of antimicrobials, as their irrational use would lead to antimicrobial resistance.