A Study on Drug Utilization and Prescribing Pattern of Third Generation Cephalosporin Antibiotics in the Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital - A Prospective Cross Sectional Observational Study

Cephalosporins are the commonly used group of antibiotics in hospitals and healthcare facilities around the world. The inappropriate use of antibiotics, especially broad-spectrum antibiotics in hospitals, leads to antibiotic resistance. Drug utilization pattern is a performance improvement method that focuses on evaluation and improvement of drug use processes to achieve optimal patient outcomes. Third-generation cephalosporins are the most commonly prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics, evenbefore culture sensitivity resultsareavailable. The objective ofthe current study was carriedout to evaluate the drug utilization and prescribing pattern of third generation cephalosporins in the in-patient department of surgery wards of a tertiary care teaching hospital. A predesigned data collection form was used to collect the data and it was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. A total of 120 inpatients were enrolled in the study. Among 120 patients, male were predominant 92 (76.7 %). More number of patients enrolled between the age group of 51-60 years 32 (26.7%). Patients with comorbidities were 51 (42.5 %). This research study can help provide feedback to prescribers, thereby increasing awareness and improving patient care through appropriate medication use. From this study, it was clear that intravenous form of third generation cephalosporins are predominantlyused.This study showedthatdrugsarepredominantlyprescribedbybrandnames.