jrnls.org logo
Submit

BROWSE ALL JOURNALS

SEE ALL 19 JOURNALS
Indian Journal of Pharmacy PracticeNOW IN
Article

Prescription practice in patients of upper respiratory tract infection at a pediatric outpatient clinic in Punjab

Pramil Tiwari1★, Rajiv Ahlawat1, Gaurav Gupta2★ Corresponding author

  1. 1Department of Pharmacy Practice, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab-160062, INDIA.
  2. 2Consultant paediatrician, Charak Care Clinics, Phase 7, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab-160055, INDIA.

CORRESPONDENCE

Pramil Tiwari

Department of Pharmacy Practice, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab-160062, INDIA.

pramiltiwari@yahoo.com

Received: 04-04-2014; Accepted: 23-05-2014.

Volume 7, Issue 2 · pp. 26–32 · PUBLISHED · DOI: 10.5530/ijopp.7.2.6

View on IJPP original site ↗

ABSTRACT

Upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) are the most common and frequently occurring infections in the paediatric population. Often, it has a viral origin and requires only symptomatic treatment. Very few patients require antibiotics. The prescriptions of children, diagnosed with URTI, over one year period of time, were studied to assess the utilization of drugs. Of 2981 patients, only 1078 patients were diagnosed to have URTI. This consisted of 598 male & 480 female patients. It was found that URTI was most common in the age group of 12–60 months (51%) followed by 1day-12 months (20%). URTI was found to be affect the patients mostly in winter (35%) followed by autumn (25%). Cough and cold combinations were the most commonly prescribed medicines in URTI (27% of total drugs prescribed) followed by antipyretics (21%), herbal cough and cold medicine (18%), saline nasal drops (15%), bronchodilators (8%), antihistamine (6%) and antibiotics (5%). It was found that 12% of the patients were prescribed an antibiotic. Amongst antibiotics, azithromycin was the most commonly prescribed followed by amoxicillin+clavulanic acid combination (61% and 31%). In this study, children less than 5 years of age were the ones diagnosed with URTI and this was highest during the winter season. Azithromycin was most commonly prescribed antibiotic. The antibiotic usage pattern reflects judicious choice of the prescriber.

KEYWORDS

Open in new tab

REFERENCES

As published

Showing references and in-text citations exactly as published.

    Cite this article

    SELECT FORMAT

    Tiwari, P., Ahlawat, R., & Gupta, G. (). Prescription practice in patients of upper respiratory tract infection at a pediatric outpatient clinic in Punjab. Indian Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 7(2), 26–32. https://doi.org/10.5530/ijopp.7.2.6