Pattern of Antimicrobial Use In The Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Gauhati Medical College Hospital, Assam, India

The aim of the present study was to study the pattern of antimicrobial drug use in the OPD of the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Guwahati with reference to the drugs prescribed, dosage forms and routes of administration, average number of drugs per prescription and prescriptions by generic names. This was a prospective cross-sectional observational prescription based study conducted for a period of three months from September, 2015 to December, 2015. Regular visits were made to the OPD and data regarding patient demographics and drugs prescribed were collected in a predetermined format. The data was then recorded in Microsoft Excel and analyzed. A total of 114 prescriptions were analyzed of which 73(64%) were male patients and the rest, female. Most patients belonged to the age group of 51-60 years. Fluoroquinolones were the most commonly prescribed antimicrobial class. Among individual drugs, Moxifloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Gatifloxacin, Fluconazole, Cefixime, Natamycin, Amoxycillin-Clavulanic acid, Ceftriaxone-Sulbactam and Metronidazole were the antimicrobials prescribed in descending order of frequency. The commonest dosage form prescribed was eye drops followed by tablets, eye ointment and intravenous injection. Most prescriptions contained only two drugs per patient. 19% of the total drugs were prescribed by their generic names. Antimicrobial drugs are one of the commonly used drug classes in most cases attending the Ophthalmology OPD either to treat ocular infections or to prevent them. Steps must be taken to sensitize the prescribers regarding rational use of antimicrobials and emphasis should be laid on strengthening the hospital drug supply chain.