Abstract

A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY ON TREATMENT PATTERN OF CEPHALOSPORINS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Anjali S. Nair*, Jini Mariam Saji, Jaselin Kurian, Rani Manju, Preethu P. John, Dr. Santhosh M. Mathews

ABSTRACT

Background: Cephalosporins are among the commonly used class of antibiotics in hospital and healthcare facilities worldwide due to their extended spectrum of activity. Evaluation of treatment pattern is important for clinical, educational and pharmacoeconomic purposes. Objective: To assess the treatment pattern of Cephalosporins, to study the indications of drug prescribed, to study the rationality of drug use and to study drug interactions. Materials and methods: A hospital based, retrospective observational study conducted in 200 patients prescribed with Cephalosporins in the Department of General Medicine, who satisfied all the inclusion criteria. The study conducted from March 2021 to July 2021 after the approval from Institutional Ethics Committee. Result: The prescription of 200 patients were analysed. Among these 54% were males and 46% were females.Majority of the patients taking Cephalosporins belonged to >70 years of age group. Ceftriaxone (89.0 %) was the most prescribed antibiotic. Majority of the subjects had intravenous route (93.5%) of administration of Ceftriaxone. Most of the patients to which Cephalosporins prescribed were diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infection followed by urinary tract infection. Azithromycin (57.14%) was found to be the most commonly co prescribed antibiotic followed by Doxycycline (12.8%). Co-administered drugs with moderate (33.3%) and minor interactions (66.6%) were found in prescriptions. In our study 83.5% of drugs were prescribed by generic name and the remaining 16.5% were brand names. Conclusion: The rational prescribing of antibiotics helps to prevent polypharmacy thus preventing drug resistance. It is necessary that prescribers promote prescribing by generic name and to do culture and sensitivity test more often to reduce any drug resistance. It provides and insight to pharmacist and other healthcare professionals for promoting rational use of antibiotics.

Keywords: Antibiotics, Cephalosporins, General Medicine.