Prescription audit of a teaching hospital in South India using World Health Organization core prescribing indicators – A cross-sectional study

AIM: World Health Organization (WHO) core prescribing indicators are highly standardized tools in reliably assessing the essential aspects of drug utilization pattern. It is critical that the rational use of drug prescribing is scrutinized for the utmost benefit of patient welfare. In this study, we aim to assess the prescription pattern and prescribing behavior of physicians using the WHO-recommended core prescribing indicators at a teaching hospital in South India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the general medicine outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital for a period of 1 month in June 2019. A total of 600 prescriptions were sampled based on the WHO “How to investigate drug use in health facilities” document recommendation. The WHO guidelines and methods were observed to ensure data reliability. Descriptive statistical analyses such as frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation were used to present the data. RESULTS: The WHO core prescribing indicators analysis revealed that the average number of drugs per encounter was 2.38 ± 1.1 and only 796 (55.4%) of the drugs were prescribed by generic name. Whereas, the percentage of encounters prescribed with an antibiotic 44 (7.3%) and an injection 63 (10.5%) was less than the ideal recommendations as per WHO and 1265 (88%) of the drugs were prescribed from the National List of Essential Medicines. CONCLUSION: This study on prescription pattern audit done using the WHO core prescribing indicators highlights that prescriptions encountered with antibiotic and injection use were in accordance with the WHO recommendations.