Prescription analysis emphasizing on medication adherence of antibiotics for lower respiratory tract infection

Abstract

Antibiotics are choice of drugs in patients with respiratory infections. Irrational use of antibiotics is an important public health issue faced on daily basis by the community and the individual. Keeping this in consideration, the current study investigates the prescription pattern of antibiotics in lower respiratory tract infection in general population.The objectives of the study include prescription pattern analysis of antibiotics for LRTIs in general population and to evaluate adherence to antibiotic treatment. This was a hospital based prospective observational study conducted between November 2021 to April 2022 in the department of general medicine and pediatrics. Compliance to various antibiotics was scrutinized by using MMAS 4 scale. Patient demographics, laboratory details, prescribed antibiotics, duration of hospital stay were gathered over a period of 6 months.A total of 200 patients were involved in the study, out of which 53% were males and 47% were females. A total of 2127 drugs were prescribed in 200 patients (10.6 drugs/prescription). Ceftriaxone was the most commonly used antibiotic followed by azithromycin and piperacillin/tazobactam. The most frequently diagnosed disease was Bronchopneumonia (41%) followed by A/E COPD (28%). Evaluation of medication adherence resulted in 58% high and 11% poor adherence. The number of antibiotics prescribed was found to be rational but prevalence of polypharmacy should be prevented. Medication adherence decreases as the frequency of antibiotic increases, so it is recommended to lower the frequency of drugs as possible to enhance the compliance.