A recent article published in the Indian Journal of Community Medicine aimed to observe the current prescription practices for the management of diarrhea and pneumonia in Bhopal.

In this cross-sectional study, prescriptions of under-5 children with a diagnosis of acute respiratory tract infection and/or acute gastroenteritis, attending the outpatient departments of clinics and hospitals of Bhopal over 4 months, were included.

Overall, 513 prescriptions of pneumonia and 417 of diarrhea were observed. Among patients with pneumonia, 15.6% showed signs and symptoms, of which – 74% had cold and cough with 95.5% were prescribed antimicrobials. On the other hand, 73% of diarrhea prescriptions did not mention any signs. Oral rehydration salt and zinc were prescribed in majority of cases, while antibiotics was used in around 64%, for the treatment of diarrhea. 

From the findings, it was concluded that there exists a huge need of improvement in prescribing patterns in patients with complete prescriptions having clinical features, which should also heed the follow-up advice and rational choice of drugs with dose and duration.

Source: Indian J Community Med 2020;45:554-7