Prescription audit a tool to determine the effects of antibiotics in the pediatric inpatient department of a tertiary teaching care hospital in Punjab

Introduction: Health care professionals dealing with pediatric patients face a lot of challenges and pass through hurdles during their daily practice of medicines owing to the scarcity of suitable drugs and other facilities. A fundamental part of the antibiotic prescription is inappropriate due to errors in the selection of appropriate antibiotics, dose, duration, route of administration, and frequency for treatment. Medication use evaluation and audits are an integral part of evaluating whether the drugs are being utilized appropriately considering the social, economic, and medical points. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to do an antibiotic audit to analyze the prescribing pattern in the in-patient department of pediatrics of the hospital. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in the inpatient pediatrics department of Punjab Institute of Medical Science and Hospital, Jalandhar. The study was conducted on a total of 150 hospitalized children and infants for a period of two months from February 1, 2020, to March 30, 2020. Results: The analysis of 150 prescriptions was done using IBM SPSS software version 24 and statistical analysis was done. Antibiotic usage was expressed in percentile and the duration of treatment was expressed. Aminoglycosides (Amikacin) were the top most used class of antibiotics followed by cephalosporin. Among cephalosporins, the third generation ceftriaxone, and cefoperazone were found to be mostly used. Conclusions: Accordingly, health care professionals must keep a clear understanding of the need for microbiological diagnosis, antibiotics usage, and make good judgment in clinical situations. Regular antibiotic audits and staff education must be implemented.