Prescriptions Audit for Antibiotics among Outpatients in the Department of Periodontics

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to audit prescriptions for antibiotics for cost optimization in outpatients undergoing periodontal treatment. Study Design: A prospective cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was done at a dental college in Himachal Pradesh from August 2020 to July 2021. Methodology: 849 patients agreed to share their data, 614 of whom received antibiotics. The demographic information, the name of the given antibiotic, dosage form, dose, strength, frequency, and the reason for prescribing were gathered. Antibiotic monotherapy and multitherapy prescriptions were evaluated. Antibiotics prescribed by the NLEM 2015 were calculated. For cost minimization evaluation, the price of prescribed antibiotics in branded and generic names was calculated in INR. The results were calculated using descriptive statistics and presented in frequency and percentage. Results: This finding shows irrationality and out-of-pocket expenses in antibiotic prescribing. The most common diagnosis was periodontitis. Only 74.5% of all antibiotics prescribed were from the NLEM 2015. The most often recommended antibiotic was a fixed-dose combination of Amoxicillin + Clavulanic acid (61.2%) and accounts for 87.80% of the total cost of 146669.82 INR. Only 9.7 % of antibiotics were prescribed with a generic name. Conclusion: Generic names and prescribing from essential drug lists play a critical role in the treatment and prevention of a wide variety of diseases on a worldwide scale by providing cost-effective healthcare coverage.