Evaluation of prescribing patterns of medical practitioners in the state of Goa, India

Background: According to WHO, worldwide more than 50% of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed, or sold inappropriately, while 50% of patients fail to take them correctly. Evaluating the prescribing patterns of the medical practitioners will throw light on the common types of irrational practices such as inappropriate use of antimicrobials, polypharmacy, over-use of injections, failure to prescribe according to clinical guidelines.Methods: 600 prescriptions prescribed by medical practitioners from March to April 2016 were analyzed using WHO prescribing indicators.Results: Out of the 1900 drugs prescribed, average number of drugs per prescription was 3.17. Total number of drugs prescribed by generic name was 11 (0.58%). An antibiotic was prescribed in 119 patients (19.83%). An injection was prescribed in 23 patients (3.8%). 567 drugs prescribed were from the essential drug list of India (29.8%).Conclusions: Polypharmacy increases the risk of drug interactions, treatment cost, decreases the patient’s compliance. Prescribing medicines by generic name avoids the confusion. By adhering to the national essential list of medicine, drugs will be available to the patients at all times and be cheaper