Abstract

ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF PRESCRIPTION WRITING AMONG INTERNS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Dr. Revathy Saravanan* and Ganeshkumar D.

Abstract

Introduction: As prescribing is an art and an essential part ofphysician adequate knowledge and confidence on drug efficacy, safetyand competence in prescribing are important. It is ideal to achieve theskill to prescribe rationally during internship period itself while stillunder supervision. This study has been planned to assess theknowledge and attitude of interns to suggest possible steps to makethem good competent prescribers. Materials and Methods: A crosssectional questionnaire based study was conducted among 100 internsof tertiary care level hospital in Pondicherry in December 2014 toJanuary 2015. Descriptive statistics was applied for the data analysis.RESULTS: Knowledge about generic name with their advantages andtrade name were good in 65% and 75% of our participants. But theirknowledge regarding format of the prescription and their contents isvery poor with only 4% of interns being familiar.77%-84% were notaware of p-drug concept. Prescriptions of seniors and clinical teachers, textbooks and otherslike CIMS, MIMS were expressed as their references. 93%-96% have stated that training orrefreshing will improve their prescribing skills. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Lackof knowledge and prescribing medicines irrationally by interns have been observed in somestudies. Causes for prescribing errors and the impact of training in improving them has beenestablished by systematic analysis of such studies .Even with average to good knowledge asseen in our study, academic and practical training in and during the internship will sensitizethem which can be practiced and corrected under the guidance of teachers. This will improve their prescribing behavior so that rational use of medicines and health benefits can be promoted.

Keywords: Prescribing Knowledge and Attitude of Interns, prescribing errors and their causes, training for rational prescription.