PATTERNS OF PRESCRIPTION WRITING IN PSYCHIATRIC CLINICS

Objectives: To screen the prescription-writing pattern of psychiatrists in private clinics in Peshawar for the essential elements of prescriptions and to investigate the prescribing trends at Peshawar. Methodology: This observational study was carried out at LRH Peshawar on 602 prescriptions in 5 months duration. The prescriptions were collected from the patients admitted to LRH and the variables were checked and noted directly into electronic form. Results: Averagely 3.34 drugs were prescribed per prescription, in which drug-related variables: (i) strength of medication was indicated for all drugs in 409 (67.94%) of the prescriptions and were missing for some drugs in 177 (29.4%) prescriptions, (ii) total quantity of a drug to be dispensed was indicated for any drug in just over 111(18.43%) of prescriptions, (iii) The instructions for taking the medication were complete in only 301 (50%) of prescriptions. Fluoxetine alone or in combination (8.4%) was the most commonly prescribed antidepressant. There were 319 (15.8%) non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and/or analgesics. Vitamin preparations accounted for 4.02% of all drugs dispensed. Conclusion: SSRI’s were the most frequently prescribed medication in majority of prescriptions. Inconsistency regarding different prescription components was observed, such as strength of medication, frequency or instruction for medication use etc.