Pharmacoepidemiological study of prescription pattern of analgesics,antipyretics, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs at Tikrit teaching hospital, Iraq, Tikrit.

Abstract

A cross sectional study of outpatient prescriptions kept by the pharmacy department at Tikrit teaching  Hospital  during the period 7th December  2009 until 7th December   2010 ,To examine the outpatients’ prescribing pattern of doctors to analgesics, antipyretics, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) . The type and number of drugs prescribed, patient’s diagnoses and age, and the prescribing physician were analyzed. The study sample included 1898 prescriptions, (1040%) of them containing to analgesics, antipyretics, and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) .There was no significant seasonal variation in the pattern of prescription. The most commonly prescribed agent was paracetamol (63.9%), followed in decreasing frequency by ibuprofen, diclofenac, and aspirin. In few of the prescriptions combination of analgesics, antipyretics, and NSAIDs were used. infection in 40%, and musculoskeletal disorders in 17.7% of all treated cases. The rest were a variety of problems for some of which, the drugs were used inappropriately. Aspirin was used exclusively in adults for cardio- protection, while paracetamol was used mainly as analgesic-antipyretic over all age groups.