Vitamin D: prescription audit in tertiary health care centre

Background: Vitamin-D is critically important for development, growth and maintenance of health of human being. Many evidences show association between vit-D deficiency and several serious health conditions. Data collection on use of drugs is being obtained with the aim of optimizing drug therapy. So far till date only few studies about prescription pattern of vit-D have been found. Hence it is very important to do audit of prescriptions of vit-D. The aim of the study is to provide concise and updated information about the use of vit-D in tertiary care hospital and to record demographic details of patients.Methods: After ethical approval, this cross sectional study was conducted at tertiary health centre. Patient and drug data (name of drug, dose, dosage form and route of administration) was collected from the patient’s prescriptions in OPD.Results: Highest prescriptions of vit-D were found in orthopedic department (22% of total prescriptions of that department). Prescribing percentage of vit-D in medicine department was 4.6%, dermatology 1.5% and in psychiatry 0.8% of total prescriptions. Prescriptions of vit-D in combination with calcium were found in orthopedics (52%), medicine (7%) and obstetrics and gynecology (10%) departments.Conclusions: Highest prescriptions of vit-D alone and with calcium found in orthopedic department. Periodic therapeutic audit is necessary to rationalise the use of vit D

Ecoacoustics and multispecies semiosis: naming, semantics, semiotic characteristics, and competencies

Biosemiotics to date has focused on the exchange of signals between organisms, in line with bioacoustics; consideration of the wider acoustic environment as a semiotic medium is under-developed. The nascent discipline of ecoacoustics, that investigates the role of environmental sound in ecological processes and dynamics, fills this gap. In this paper we introduce key ecoacoustic terminology and concepts in order to highlight the value of ecoacoustics as a discipline in which to conceptualise and study intra- and interspecies semiosis. We stress the inherently subjective nature of all sensory scapes (vivo-, land-, vibro- and soundscapes) and propose that they should always bear an organismic attribution. Key terms to describe the sources (geophony, biophony, anthropophony, technophony) and scales (sonotopes, soundtopes, sonotones) of soundscapes are described. We introduce epithets for soundscapes to point to the degree to which the global environment is implicated in semiosis (latent, sensed and interpreted soundscapes); terms for describing key ecological structures and processes (acoustic community, acoustic habitat, ecoacoustic events) and examples of ecoacoustic events (choruses and noise) are described. The acoustic eco-field is recognized as the semiotic model that enables soniferous species to intercept core resources like food, safety and roosting places. We note that whilst ecoacoustics to date has focused on the critical task of the development of metrics for application in conservation and biodiversity assessment, these can be enriched by advancing conceptual and theoretical foundations. Finally, the mutual value of integrating ecoacoustic and biosemiotics perspectives is considered

Irrational drug use in India: a prescription survey from Goa.

BACKGROUND: There is concern regarding the irrational production, prescription and use of drugs in India. This study aimed to describe the quality of prescriptions by medical practitioners, including both the layout of the prescription and the type and number of drugs prescribed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey of all prescriptions dispensed at a busy pharmacy in the state of Goa, India, was carried out over a consecutive seven-day period. Each prescription was rated on the basis of a priori and pilot-tested variable list. The prescriptions by private practitioners were compared with those from practitioners in the public healthcare system. RESULTS: Nine hundred and ninety prescriptions were collected. The majority (83.9%) were from private practitioners. The quality of the layout of the prescriptions was unsatisfactory: information to identify the practitioner was incomplete in more than a third of the prescriptions and information to identify the patient was incomplete in more than half. Clarity of written instructions on how to take the medicines was unsatisfactory in the majority of prescriptions. Polypharmacy was the norm, with more than half (52.7%) the prescriptions containing at least 3 medicines. Forty per cent of prescriptions included a vitamin or tonic preparation and a quarter of the prescriptions included an antibiotic and an analgesic. Over 90% of prescriptions contained only branded medicines. Private practitioners prescribed significantly greater number of medicines and were more likely to prescribe vitamins and antibiotics, and branded medicines. DISCUSSION: This study confirms that the quality of prescriptions, both in terms of layout and the content of the drugs prescribed, is inadequate. There is a need to standardize the format of prescriptions in India so that all essential information is included. There is a need to strengthen an independent mechanism for continuing professional development of practitioners to ensure that patients are always given evidence-based, cost-effective treatments

Irrational drug use in India: A prescription survey from Goa

BACKGROUND: There is concern regarding the irrational production, prescription and use of drugs in India. This study aimed to describe the quality of prescriptions by medical practitioners, including both the layout of the prescription and the type and number of drugs prescribed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey of all prescriptions dispensed at a busy pharmacy in the state of Goa, India, was carried out over a consecutive seven-day period. Each prescription was rated on the basis of a priori and pilot-tested variable list. The prescriptions by private practitioners were compared with those from practitioners in the public healthcare system. RESULTS: Nine hundred and ninety prescriptions were collected. The majority (83.9%) were from private practitioners. The quality of the layout of the prescriptions was unsatisfactory: information to identify the practitioner was incomplete in more than a third of the prescriptions and information to identify the patient was incomplete in more than half. Clarity of written instructions on how to take the medicines was unsatisfactory in the majority of prescriptions. Polypharmacy was the norm, with more than half (52.7%) the prescriptions containing at least 3 medicines. Forty per cent of prescriptions included a vitamin or tonic preparation and a quarter of the prescriptions included an antibiotic and an analgesic. Over 90% of prescriptions contained only branded medicines. Private practitioners prescribed significantly greater number of medicines and were more likely to prescribe vitamins and antibiotics, and branded medicines. DISCUSSION: This study confirms that the quality of prescriptions, both in terms of layout and the content of the drugs prescribed, is inadequate. There is a need to standardize the format of prescriptions in India so that all essential information is included. There is a need to strengthen an independent mechanism for continuing professional development of practitioners to ensure that patients are always given evidence-based, cost-effective treatments

Irrational drug use in India: A prescription survey from Goa

BACKGROUND: There is concern regarding the irrational production, prescription and use of drugs in India. This study aimed to describe the quality of prescriptions by medical practitioners, including both the layout of the prescription and the type and number of drugs prescribed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey of all prescriptions dispensed at a busy pharmacy in the state of Goa, India, was carried out over a consecutive seven-day period. Each prescription was rated on the basis of a priori and pilot-tested variable list. The prescriptions by private practitioners were compared with those from practitioners in the public healthcare system. RESULTS: Nine hundred and ninety prescriptions were collected. The majority (83.9%) were from private practitioners. The quality of the layout of the prescriptions was unsatisfactory: information to identify the practitioner was incomplete in more than a third of the prescriptions and information to identify the patient was incomplete in more than half. Clarity of written instructions on how to take the medicines was unsatisfactory in the majority of prescriptions. Polypharmacy was the norm, with more than half (52.7%) the prescriptions containing at least 3 medicines. Forty per cent of prescriptions included a vitamin or tonic preparation and a quarter of the prescriptions included an antibiotic and an analgesic. Over 90% of prescriptions contained only branded medicines. Private practitioners prescribed significantly greater number of medicines and were more likely to prescribe vitamins and antibiotics, and branded medicines. DISCUSSION: This study confirms that the quality of prescriptions, both in terms of layout and the content of the drugs prescribed, is inadequate. There is a need to standardize the format of prescriptions in India so that all essential information is included. There is a need to strengthen an independent mechanism for continuing professional development of practitioners to ensure that patients are always given evidence-based, cost-effective treatments