Evaluation of prescribing pattern of anti-diabetic drugs using WHO prescribing indicators in a tertiary care hospital in Puducherry: A cross-sectional study

Background Diabetes is emerging as a major health care problem especially in developing countries. Adhering to the WHO indicators and judicious use of anti-diabetic drugs will be a promising step in health care system. Objective To analyse the prescribing pattern of anti-diabetic drugs in a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods A retrospective, cross-sectional study was done for six months in the Medical Records Department, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences. The data was analysed using WHO core indicators and expressed as descriptive statistics. Results The total number of encounters surveyed was 600. Present study found that the average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 5.15. Percentages of drugs prescribed by generic name was found to be 25.37%, antibiotic drugs 22.66% and injections 20.5%. Drugs prescribed from an Essential Drug List (EDL) was 74.30%.