Prescription and Drug Use Patterns in Non- COVID Ambulatory Patients in Bangladesh during COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Prescription and Drug Use Patterns in Non-COVID Ambulatory Patients in Bangladesh during COVID-19 pandemic Background: Irrational prescribing has been a major public health concern worldwide, including in Bangladesh.Lack of effective treatment guidelines and drug regulation policies to manage COVID-19 allowed an upsurge in this malpractice during the pandemic.This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the prescription pattern in non-COVID ambulatory patients during the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh.Methods: A total of 600 prescriptions were randomly collected from non-COVID outpatients at three tertiary hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between December 2020 and June 2021.COVID-19 status was confirmed through verbal screening and antigen test verification when applicable.Data were organized and analyzed using Google spreadsheet, MS Excel, and SPSS software (version 26.0).Results: Mean±SD number of drugs prescribed per prescription was 5.25±2.1 and dependent on patients' age groups (P<0.001) and gender (P=0.013).Drugs were prescribed by brand names, mostly 3107(98.69%),and 2452(77.9%) of them belonged to the essential drugs list.Most prescribed drugs were from gastroenterology 2025(64.33%)and respiratory group 1716 (54.50%).A mean of 7.38 errors were found per prescription of which the predominant type was error of omission.Each prescription carried 1.157 errors of omission related to the prescriber's details, 349(50.29%),and diagnosis, 144(20.75%).A total of 427(13.56%) of…
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Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
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