Prescribing Pattern of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs among the Specialists Doctors in Mymensingh City of Bangladesh—A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Irrational prescribing of medicines is a global problem, particularly in developing and transitional countries like Bangladesh, and so drug use patterns need to be evaluated. The aim of the study was to investigate the prescribing patterns of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) among the specialist doctors in Mymensingh city of Bangladesh. Prescriptions were collected from patients visiting different hospitals and pharmacies in different areas of Mymensingh city. A total number of 300 prescriptions were collected and analyzed. The extent of prescribing drugs by generic name is almost zero, and the percentage of prescription of essential drugs was 59.63%. NSAIDs were prescribed in 53.67% of the prescriptions, with aspirin, paracetamol and diclofenac being the most frequently prescribed NSAIDs. The proportions of prescribed NSAIDS in different department of specialists were: medicine (40.99%), orthopedics (23.60%), pediatrics (15.53%) and gynecologists (10.56%); among them 28.30% generic were aspirin and 53.04% generic were containing Paracetamol. The prescribers did not follow the World Health Organization (WHO) core prescribing indicators well (as 40.37% did not follow EDL list) and deviated from good prescribing practices. In the absence of enough qualified doctors, drugs are often prescribed by unqualified health workers and people can get any drug from any drug store without a prescription. Moreover, highly structured system is geared to generate prescriptions and ensure marketshare instituted by the pharmaceuticals. It becomes inevitable to have a drug policy in our country for future betterment of the nation.

Keywords: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), rational use, prescribing pattern, essential drug list (EDL), poly-pharmacy

Cite this Article

Salma N, Mahmud R. Prescribing Pattern of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs among the Specialists Doctors in Mymensingh City of Bangladesh—A Descriptive Study. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Pharmacology. 2018; 8(2):
19–23p.