Common drug prescribing pattern on common illness in A & E Pharmacy, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) in December 2007

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the prescribing pattern among doctors at the emergency department in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR). Method: 800 prescriptions (N=800) received by the pharmacy at the department were included in this study. Those prescriptions were randomly selected from the department over a period of 30 days. Result: from 800 prescriptions, 2008 drugs (n=2008) have been prescribed. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 2.51. 56.7% (n=l 138) of the drugs were prescribed in generic name. Name of patient, were available in all of the prescriptions. However, age of the patient were absent in 2% of the prescriptions. Besides that patient registration number and identity card number were omitted in 2.9% and 3.5% of prescriptions respectively. Physicians’ names and their signature were omitted in 5.5% and 2% of prescriptions, respectively. The most commonly prescribed therapeutic classes of drugs (and principal drug in each class) were as follows: Analgesics & antipyretics (19.87%), Cough & cold remedies (14.34%) and Antibiotics (12.65%). Other therapeutic classes included Antirheumatics (8.37%), Antacids&antiulcerants (8.07%), Antihistamine (7.87%), Antiasthmatics (6.13%) and Anti inflammatory enzymes (5.53% ). Other agents prescribed in small proportions of encounters collectively amounted to 21.3%. The most frequently prescribed drugs among the above therapeutic classes were paracetamol (16.09% of all Analgesics & antipyretics), diphenydramine syrup (58.7% of all Cough & cold remedies), amoxicillin (31.89% of all antibiotics). From 800 prescriptions studied, 100 prescriptions (12.5%) scripts were found to have bad handwriting. Conclusion: This study reveals the prescription trends, and indicates possible areas of improvement in prescription practice. The prescribing habits of doctors should periodically be analyzed and any change highlighted. This study aims to provide baseline data for monitoring future trends.