Drug utilization
in the in-patient setting can provide mechanisms to assess drug
prescribing trends, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of hospital
formularies and examine sub-populations such as children for which
prescribing habits are different from adults.
Objectives: The aim of this descriptive study was to analyze general
medication utilization patterns and costs excluding antimicrobials
prescriptions and to compare two pediatric admission units in
a tertiary care university hospital.
Methods: The total number of admitted children was 1,521 and 1,467
for the A and B admission units, respectively. The electronic
data from 252 and 253 hospitalized children in the A and B admission
unit were prospectively screened for general medication prescriptions,
children on antimicrobials were excluded from the analysis. Their
electronic charts were viewed once weekly from October 15, 2007
up to April 7, 2008 using the prescription-point prevalence method.
One medication was considered to be one prescription.
Results: The general medications prescription number was 790 for
94 children (8.4 prescription/patient) in A and 959 for 88 children
(10.9 prescription/patient) in B (p=0.02). The general medications
defined daily dose (DDD) and drug utilization 90% (DU90%) index
were 2,509.63, 2,259 for A; and 6,110.35, 5,499 for B, respectively.
The DU90% index placed salbutamol inhalation with 835 DDD and
sodium heparin with 2,102 DDD in the first place for the A and
B admission units, respectively. A net increment in medication
cost was registered according to the calculated cost from the
depicted DU90% when the A (20,263 NIS) and B (6,269 NIS) admission
units were compared (p=0.04).
Conclusions: A significant difference in the prescription utilization
of general medications was shown between the A and B admission
units. The A admission unit had lower prescriptions measured by
the DU90% index with higher medication cost. Potential drug-drug
interactions were depicted in 18 (19%) and 17 (19%) subjects in
the A and B admission unit, respectively.
|
Table
of contents
|
