Assessment of Prescribing Pattern of Chemotherapeutic Agents in Oncology Unit of Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Periodical revision of prescribing pattern studies is essential to promote the rational usage of drugs in every hospital. This study was aimed to assess the prescribing pattern of chemotherapeutic agents in the oncology unit of a tertiary care hospital in Andhra Pradesh. Every prescription was screened for demographic characteristics of the patients, type of cancer, category of drug, dose, dosage form, and the frequency of drugs administration. All the data was collected in a data collection form, and the prescribing pattern was assessed by comparing it with WHO prescribing indicators. The patients' average age was 57.45 +/- 11.49 (Mean +/- SD), and majority (35.71%) of the patients were in the age group of 61-70. The majority of the patients were females (64%), cervix, and breast cancers were the most commonly observed cancer in females. Cisplatin was the most popular drug used in 57.1% of the patients. Average of 3.95 drugs is prescribed per encounter. 15.7% of encounters were prescribed with antibiotics. 95.7% of drugs prescribed were injections. 71.8% of drugs were prescribed by generic names. 92.7% of drugs prescribed were from the essential drug list. The study implies that the utilization of anticancer drugs in this hospital was found to be rational.