Study of Drug Utilization Pattern during Second Wave of Covid-19 in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Retrospective Cross Sectional Study

Background: To study the drug utilization trends among patients with COVID-19 disease duringthe second wave in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in patients admitted in COVID-19wards during second wave of SARS – COVID-19 pandemic from 1st March 2021 to 30th June2021. A total of 300 prescriptions were analysed. Assessment of prescription patterns were done asper the WHO-The International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD)drug use indicators. Results: A total of 3106 drugs were analysed.The average number of drugs prescribed was 11±5.1.The most frequent prescription was that of analgesic and antipyretic drug Paracetamol (95.26%)followed by vitamin C (94.74%) and multivitamins(87.89%) . Nearly all patients in this studyreceived antibacterials, 68% received antivirals. Antibacterials commonly used were cephalosporins,amoxicillin- clavulanic acid combination and pipercillin –tazobactam combination. Antiviral drugRemdesivir was also used extensively in our study (54.21%). Other class of drugs which werecommonly prescribed to more patients were Dalteparin (73.16%) and corticosteroids like methylprednisolone (52.63%) and dexamethasone (51.05%). 35.68% of the drugs were prescribed withgeneric name .45.43% of the drugs were injectables . 2.96% of the drugs were prescribed as fixeddose combinations. Conclusion: In summary, the drug utilization for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 was diverse butgenerally complied with the ongoing guidelines. The drug were mostly prescribed from WHO essentialdrug list and percentage of fixed dose combination prescription was low. However not prescribing thedrugs by generic name and large encounters of injectable was matter of concern. To get a better glimpseof drug utilization a more extensive study needs to be undertaken.