Prescription writing error in general practice: A cross sectional study at tertiary care hospital in Hyderabad, Pakistan

Abstract

Prescription is an instruction written by a medical practitioner to pharmacist which contains drug name, dose, frequency, directions for compounding, advices for drug consumption etc. Drug induced morbidity is an important problem in ambulatory care patients and its one of the major factor is prescription error. Therefore, the present study was performed to assess the current prescription writing trend for identifying frequent errors and proposing the ways by which these can be overcome. A cross sectional study was conducted by collecting 2120 prescriptions written in outpatient department (OPD) of tertiary care hospital. The prescribing errors were identified on the basis of WHO guidelines for prescription writing and current guidance published in British National Formulary. Most of the prescriptions evaluated did not follow the proper guidelines. Patient's weight, prescriber's contact, duration of therapy and drug generic name were missed in more than 90% of prescriptions. A significant number of prescriptions were also found to be illegibly written. Overall, prescription wring trend was worse and there is a need of training for proper prescription writing. Implementation of computerized order entry system and participation of pharmacists at all points of medication process may also substantially improve prescription writing trend.