Publication:

WHO core prescribing indicators in patients with allergic contact dermatitis in a coastal town of South India

Background Prescribing pattern analysis utilizing WHO core drug prescribing indicators can be helpful for the assessing the beneficial and adverse impacts of the prescribed drugs.Even though many drugs are commonly used in treatment of Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) they are least studied in terms of prescribing patterns. Hence the present study was planned to analyze the prescribing pattern and study the WHO core prescribing indicators in patients with ACD in our institute.

Methods A prospective observational study was carried out with prescriptions of 81 outpatients who attended the dermatology OPD with the diagnosis of ACD over a period of six months. Details such as basic demographics, specific drugs prescribed with their dose and dosage forms were recorded and WHO core prescription indicators analysed.

Results Overall, corticosteroids both topical and systemic were the most commonly prescribed drugs (45.54%) followed by antihistamines (30.69%) and antimicrobials (13.86%). The most commonly prescribed topical corticosteroid was desonide (58.82%), systemic corticosteroid was prednisolone (47.61%), antihistamine was cetirizine (54, 83%) and antimicrobials were cephalosporins (42.86%). Average drugs per prescription for patients of ACD were 6.8. Percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was 22.77%. Percentage of encounters with antibiotic prescribed was 13.86% whereas injection prescribed was 9.90%. Percentage of drugs prescribed from National list of essential medicines (NLEM) was 53.57%.

Conclusions Corticosteroids remain the mainstay of treatment in ACD. The percentage of encounters with an injection and the use of systemic steroids were low and were according to the guidelines. But drugs prescribed by generic name and those prescribed from NELM were found to be satisfactory but can further be improved.