Analysis of Prescribing Practices in the Dermatology Outpatient Department of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital
April 2023
in “
Cureus
”
TLDR The conclusion is that dermatologists need to improve prescription practices to reduce errors and drug interaction risks.
The study analyzed 617 prescriptions from a dermatology outpatient department in a tertiary care teaching hospital. The most common diseases were tinea infection (9%) and acne vulgaris (8.5%). Prescription errors were found, including 4% not written in capital letters, 13% not mentioning the drug administration route, and 2% missing the consultant's or physician's name. No prescriptions used generic drug names. Polypharmacy was observed in 8% of prescriptions, and potential drug-drug interactions were identified in 1.9% of cases. The most prescribed drugs were antihistaminics (23%), antifungal drugs (17%), and corticosteroids (16%). The study emphasized the need for improved prescribing practices to minimize errors and potential drug-drug interactions.
