A STUDY OF ANTIMICROBIAL PRESCRIPTION PATTERN IN THE EAR, NOSE AND THROAT INFECTIONS AT A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL, RAJKOT

Introduction: The ear, nose and throat (ENT) infections can be caused by a variety of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. Their treatment involves the use of appropriate antimicrobial agents and inappropriate use is closely linked to antibiotic resistance. Hence, present study was planned to evaluate the prescribing pattern of antimicrobials in the ENT outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted from May 2016 to August 2016. Prescriptions of patients diagnosed with ENT infections were included. The information such as age, sex, type of ENT infections and drug data were noted in preformed case record form and evaluated. Results: Over 3 month study period, 512 prescriptions were analysed. Majority of the study population were in the age group of 21-40 years. Total numbers of males were 274 and females were 238. Among all, most common ear infection was chronic suppurative otitis media (17.19%). The commonest antimicrobial prescribed was Ciprofloxacin (29.18%) followed by Amoxicillin (25.38%). Only one antimicrobial was prescribed in 341 (66.60%) prescriptions. Average number of drugs and antimicrobials per prescription were 4.58 and 1.80 respectively. The preferred route of administration of antimicrobials was oral (73%) and most of them were prescribed by generic name (78.45%). Conclusion: Fluoroquinolone and β-lactam were the two most frequently prescribed antimicrobial agents. The use of the generic name was found to be satisfactory, but the average number of drug per prescription was high.