Clinical Audit of Drug Prescription for Skin Disorders in Dermatology OPD at A Tertiary Care Centre

Introduction: Clinical audits are part of continuous quality improvement process that focus on specific issues or aspects of health care and clinical practice. There is growing concern about inappropriate drug utilization and prescribing habits of practitioners at all levels of health services. The cost of irrational use of medicines is enormous in terms of scarce resources and risk of adverse drug reactions. There is a paucity of data regarding prescription practices particularly in the dermatology department, so present audit was conducted. Materials and Methodology: This prospective prescription audit was carried out in Skin OPD of tertiary care centre amongst 100 prescriptions for duration of two months from November to December 2022. Demographic details and details of medications were recorded in a prestructured proforma and statistical analysis was done using descriptive studies. Results: In the current audit, 100 prescriptions were reviewed of which maximum prescriptions (33%) had a total of 3 drugs prescribed followed by 5 drugs in 22% of the prescriptions. Almost half, 45% prescriptions had 2 topical drugs and total 36% prescriptions had 2 systemic drugs given. In topical medications, 41% had moisturizers, 33% had antifungals. In systemic medications, 65% were anti-histaminic, 28% were antifungals. The frequency, strength, brand name and generic name were mentioned for topical and systemic drugs in 96% and 97% respectively .Total 14% of the prescriptions had FDCs. The average cost of prescription was Indian rupees 374.38. Discussion: Rational prescription writing is a talent that is learned via practise. Irrational prescriptions unnecessarily increase cost and duration of treatment. Drug interactions, medication resistance, and adverse drug reactions are also brought on by such activities which raises patient’s mortality, morbidity, and financial burden. Conclusion: This audit serves the purpose of evaluating prescriptions and further motivating such regular checks to improve patient outcomes.