Prescribing pattern of antibacterials as per dosage forms in various disease conditions at a rural tertiary care hospital

Background: The dosage form is useful in providing body to the drug, protecting the active ingredient of the drug and makes drug suitable for administration in a variety of ways. Selection of a suitable dosage form with appropriate route of administration in a particular infectious disease is an important aspect of rational prescribing. Aims and Objectives: For promoting the rational prescribing, the present study aims to estimate the pattern of antibacterial utilization in accordance with dosage forms in various disease conditions. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out which included 800 patients/prescription selected by simple random sampling technique. The study was conducted in OPD patients of SHKM, GMC, Nuh, Haryana for 12 months. Data analysis was done by using SPSS version 20. Results: Based on inclusion criteria, 800 patients were included for the study among 2105 screened patients. In our study, females (50.3%) out-numbered the male patients (49.8%). It was found that maximum antibacterials were prescribed in tablet form (74.6%), 13.7% were in drops form, followed by syrup (5.4%) and the remaining dosage forms (capsule, cream, gel, injection, ointment, and powder) were <6.3%. A total of 23.9% of the patients were suffering from respiratory infections, 23.6% were suffering from ear, nose, and throat infections, followed by genitourinary infections (10.6%). Conclusion: With the help of dosage forms and disease frequency patterns observed in this particular region, prescribers can improve and develop rational prescribing guidelines.