Pharmacoepidemiology of drug use at two primary health care centres in Northern India

: There is a consensus amongst most health care centers that limited drugs should be available to meet most requirements at the first tier of health care. However, few studies have addressed themselves to determining this. The objectives of this study were to provide a description of the availability and prescription of modern pharmaceuticals at 2 selected Primary Health Care Centres in Northern India. The main results of this study are: documentation of age/sex of patients on prescriptions was not kept in all cases; prescribing by both generic/brand names was observed with generics predominating; most patients received 0-2 drugs; dosages were not specified in 10% of the cases, duration not specified in 30% of the cases, and dosage form not indicated in 30% of all drugs prescribed; treatment was sought for problems pertaining to gastrointestinal, respiratory, dermatological and musculoskeletal systems; and the most prescribed drugs were analgesics, antipyretics, antimicrobials, hematinics and antihistaminics.