Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health threat. The WHO Access, Watch, Reserve (AWaRe) antibiotic classification is aimed at improving the prescription patterns, and clinical outcomes, lowering the likelihood of AMR. The current study was conducted to analyse the prescription pattern and AWaRe classification of antibiotics prescribed in a rural tertiary care hospital in Telangana. Methods: A cross sectional prospective study was conducted by the Department Microbiology, Government General Hospital, Sangareddy. Hospitalised patients > 18 years, on antibiotic treatment due to infections were included in the study. Patients below 18 years and those not on antibiotics were not considered. Medical case sheets of the patients were analysed. Average number of drugs per prescription, percentage of antibiotics prescribed by generic name, percentage of antibiotics per prescription, percentage of injected antibiotics prescribed and percentage of antibiotics prescribed from essential drugs list or formulary were the WHO Core drug indicators (prescribing indicators) analysed and presented in percentages. Results: A total of 900 patients’s data were analysed. Female to Male ratio was 1.23. Most patients were between 21 – 40 years. The average duration of admission was 7.5 days. Diagnosis was mentioned on 95.45% case sheets. An average of 5.82 drugs were prescribed per patient. Surgical prophylaxis (46%) was the leading indication; 54.02% of prescribed drugs belonged to the WHO Access group. Around 20.85% antibiotics were prescribed by generic name. Drug dosage was mentioned in 94.80% prescriptions and frequency in 98.04% prescriptions. Duration of medication was mentioned in 97.27% prescriptions and 93.82% prescriptions have the doctor’s signature. Conclusions: Assessment of the prescription patterns in a hospital helps to monitor and ensure rational drug use. This is essential to achieve good quality healthcare for patients and for the community.

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health threat. The WHO Access, Watch, Reserve (AWaRe) antibiotic classification is aimed at improving the prescription patterns, and clinical outcomes, lowering the likelihood of AMR. The current study was conducted to analyse the prescription pattern and AWaRe classification of antibiotics prescribed in a rural tertiary care hospital in Telangana. Methods: A cross sectional prospective study was conducted by the Department Microbiology, Government General Hospital, Sangareddy. Hospitalised patients > 18 years, on antibiotic treatment due to infections were included in the study. Patients below 18 years and those not on antibiotics were not considered. Medical case sheets of the patients were analysed. Average number of drugs per prescription, percentage of antibiotics prescribed by generic name, percentage of antibiotics per prescription, percentage of injected antibiotics prescribed and percentage of antibiotics prescribed from essential drugs list or formulary were the WHO Core drug indicators (prescribing indicators) analysed and presented in percentages. Results: A total of 900 patients’s data were analysed. Female to Male ratio was 1.23. Most patients were between 21 – 40 years. The average duration of admission was 7.5 days. Diagnosis was mentioned on 95.45% case sheets. An average of 5.82 drugs were prescribed per patient. Surgical prophylaxis (46%) was the leading indication; 54.02% of prescribed drugs belonged to the WHO Access group. Around 20.85% antibiotics were prescribed by generic name. Drug dosage was mentioned in 94.80% prescriptions and frequency in 98.04% prescriptions. Duration of medication was mentioned in 97.27% prescriptions and 93.82% prescriptions have the doctor’s signature. Conclusions: Assessment of the prescription patterns in a hospital helps to monitor and ensure rational drug use. This is essential to achieve good quality healthcare for patients and for the community.