The Prescribing Pattern of Outpatient Polyclinic Doctors

Objective: This study aims to analyse the prescribing pattern of doctors working in a government outpatient polyclinic in Singapore.

Design: Retrospective study of 1 week of prescription scripts in 1996.

Main Outcome Measures: Number, types and duration of drugs prescribed; combination of drugs; age distribution; bad handwriting.

Results: Two thousand six hundred and seventy-nine scripts were analysed. The age of patients ranged from 1 to 93 years with a mean of 43.8 years. There were 44.0% males and 56.0% females. The overall mean of 'total number of drugs prescribed' was 2.8 items. The means of 'number of drug items prescribed for more than 1 week' by age-group were: < 20 years = 0.2, 20 to < 40 years = 0.5, 40 to < 60 years = 1.3 and > 60 years = 2.4. One way analysis of variance showed significant difference between the means of each age-group. Post hoc analysis revealed that the oldest age group accounted for most of this significant result. The top 10 drugs prescribed in descending order were: antihistamines, paracetamol, throat medications (eg. lozenges, gargles, etc), nifedipine, beta-blockers, antacids, mist benadryl expectorant, Procodin cough syrup (containing codeine and promethazine), amoxycillin and vitamin B. Nifedipine and beta-blockers were the most commonly prescribed anti-hypertensives. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were usually prescribed with antacids. One hundred and twenty (4.5%) scripts were illegible.

Conclusion: This study provides a baseline data for monitoring future prescribing trends. There may be a need to re-evaluate the appropriateness of nifedipine as the first line anti-hypertensive drug and the usefulness of NSAID-antacid and amoxycillin-cloxacillin combinations. The prevalence of illegible handwriting was high.