Abstract:

Background: Inappropriate uses of anti-fungal agents due to irrational prescription can lead to development resistance. The misuse has risen due to polypharmacy, inclination of prescribers for branded products and deviation from essential medicines list. Limited data are available on prescribing pattern of antifungals in hospital settings. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prescription pattern of antifungal agents in the dermatology department at BMC.

Method: A hospital based cross sectional retrospective study was carried out in the dermatology department of BMC from January 2017 to June 2017. The study included 105 patient files which were selected by convenient sampling from 1260 files in dermatology department at BMC. Information from files were filled, assessed and recorded based on the check list. Data were analysed by STATA version 13.

Results and Discussion: A total of 1260 patient’s files were retrospectively reviewed and 105 files were found with mycotic infections. Prevalence of irrational prescription was 24.76%. The most common antifungals prescribed were terbinafine 61.9%, intraconazole 5.71% and the combination of miconazole and fluconazole 4.76%. Also the common conditions were the tinea corporis by 31.42%, tinea pedis 17.13% and tines capitis 15.23%. These findings are consistent with the study conducted in Mwanza, Tanzania but azoles were the mostly prescribed.

Conclusion and Recommendation: There is an irrational antifungal prescription at the dermatology department in BMC and this could be a risk in development of drug resistance. Antifungal prescribing pattern at the BMC needs improvement and further studies should be conducted to find out factors which contribute to irrational prescription.