Objectives: To study the prescribing pattern of antibiotics for respiratory tract infections. Methodology: A planned observational examination was directed in a quaternary care hospital for a period half year. All the necessary data was collected and recorded in a data collection and assessment form. Patient case notes, treatment charts/prescriptions, laboratory reports and interviews from the patients, patient representatives and healthcare professionals were the sources of data. The collected data was analyzed for the pattern of antibiotics prescribed. Results: A total of 126 patients were screened and included in the study, of which 66 patients were male (52.4 %) and 60 patients were female (47.6 %). We observed that majority of the patient population was in the age group of 20 – 39 years (29.4 %) followed by patients in the age group of 60 – 79 (28.6 %). Among the 126 patients included in the study, 105 patients were diagnosed to be suffering from LRTI (83.3 %) and 21 patients were found to be suffering from URTI (16.7 %). Among all diseases, it was found that the most common diagnosis was unknown LRTI (26.2 %) followed by bronchopneumonia (20.6 %) and COPD (17.3 %). cephalosporin (31.44 %) were the most commonly used class of antibiotics followed by penicillin (28.86 %) and macrolides (27.83 %). It was found the cephalosporin (43.6 %) were the most commonly used class followed by Penicillin (41.0 %). Among narrow spectrum antibiotics, Clarithromycin (79.6 %) was the most commonly used antibiotic followed by azithromycin (20.4 %). Among individual drugs, combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid (50 cases) was the most commonly prescribed antibiotic followed by Clarithromycin (43 cases) and Ceftriaxone (30 cases). Conclusion: We observed that Frequency of drug administration was studied to understand the dosage regimen patterns among antibiotics. Irrational (Misuse/overuse) of Antibiotics is an important public health issue that affects the community and the individual. The present study had provided useful findings which can be used as evidence for the prescribing pattern and the use of the antimicrobial drug. The results of this survey revealed that there is the need for an antibiotic formulary or clinical guidelines. The Hospitals Drugs and Therapeutics committee can play an important role in this regard and also perform drug utilization studies and prescription reviews to improve drug use in general and management. The study strongly highlighted the need of patient education and counselling on use of antibiotics and concomitant drugs.
