STUDY OF RATIONAL PRESCRIBING AND DISPENSING OF PRESCRIPTIONS WITH NONSTEROIDAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS IN ORTHOPEDIC OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT

ABSTRACTObjective: To study the prescribing pattern of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in outpatient orthopedic hospitals from a rural areaof Maharashtra, India.Methods: A total of 237 prescriptions containing NSAIDs evaluated for their distribution according to the classification of NSAIDs and World HealthOrganization core indicators for prescribing practices and patient care.Results: The average number of drugs per prescription was 3.5. The average number of NSAIDs per prescription found to be 1.12. The incidenceof generic prescribing was very low. The overall average consultation time and dispensing time found to be 4.5 and 1.9 minutes respectively.The percentage of drugs adequately labeled was 61.44%. Out of the 843 drugs, 267 were systemic NSAIDs, of which 50.56% and 49.43% usedas monotherapy and fixed dose combinations respectively. The prescriptions are containing either one or two NSAIDs. Non-selective NSAIDs mostcommonly prescribed than selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) inhibitors and highly selective COX2 inhibitors. The ratio of non-selective to selectiveNSAID usage pattern was 1:1.28.Conclusion: The study shows more use of traditional NSAIDs and underutilization of COX2 inhibitors. The study suggests that there is the immensescope of improvement for prescribing in the hospitals.Keywords: Prescribing pattern of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Rational use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, World HealthOrganization core drug use indicators

Relationship between Treatment Burden, Health Literacy, and Medication Adherence in Older Adults Coping with Multiple Chronic Conditions

A prospective study was conducted to investigate the impact of treatment burden and health literacy on medication adherence among older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) and to explore the potential moderating effects of demographic and clinical factors. Face-to-face structured interviews were conducted among older adults aged 60 and above using the Burden of Treatment Questionnaire (TBQ-15), Short Form Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS-SF12), and Malaysia Medication Adherence Assessment Tool (MyMAAT). This study included 346 older adults aged 60 years and above with two or more chronic conditions (n = 346). Hypertension (30.2%), hyperlipidemia (24.0%), and diabetes (18.0%) were the most reported chronic conditions among participants. The mean score of treatment burden was 53.4 (SD = 28.2), indicating an acceptable burden of treatment. The mean score of health literacy was 16.4 (SD = 12.6), indicating a limited health literacy level among participants; meanwhile, the mean score of medication adherence was 32.6 (SD = 12.3), indicating medication non-adherence among participants. Medication adherence was significantly correlated with treatment burden (r = −0.22, p p p p < 0.05). The study findings emphasize that multimorbid older adults with high treatment burdens and low health literacy are more likely to have poor medication adherence. This underscores the importance for clinicians to address these factors in order to improve medication adherence among older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC)

Implementing remote pharmacy objective structured clinical examination during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: This paper describes the development and feasibility evaluation of a formative remote objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for second-year students in a four-year Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm.) honours programme. Methods. A five- station remote formative OSCE was developed and implemented using Microsoft Teams. The authors used a post-OSCE evaluation, in combination with the results of a students’ survey and comprehensive feedback from faculty. Results: A total of seventy second-year B.Pharm. (Hons.) students participated in the online OSCE. Based on the post-OSCE evaluation, about 80% of students agreed that the OSCE ran smoothly. Respondents agreement on the time allocated to complete each station varied between 63.6% and 81.8%. Time allocation for each station and internet connectivity were raised as the main concerns by both the students and the faculty. Conclusion: A remote online OSCE is a feasible strategy for assessment of various skills based on different tasks, reflecting the scope of practice for future pharmacists, and offers a promising direction towards the assessment of such practical skills. Online OSCE planning, development and evaluation are in themselves useful for clarifying assessment goals, processes, hindrances and affordances