Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Rational Use of Medicine among Interns and Resident Doctors in Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of Western City of Gujarat: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: According to the definition of Rational Use of Medicine (RUM), patients must receive pharmaceuticals that are “suitable to their clinical needs, in doses that fit their own specific requirements, for an adequate period of time, and at the lowest cost to them and their community”. By prescribing the proper medications in the proper dosages, doctors can influence the health and well-being of their patients.

Aim: To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of interns and resident doctors towards RUM in tertiary care center, Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted in August 2022 in Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital, Jamnagar, Gujarat. Total 149 first year postgraduate students (residents doctors) from different specialties and 205 intern students of a tertiary care teaching hospital were included in the study. A questionnaire was administered, which included the questions regarding socio-demographic profile, use of Essential Medicines (EM), RUM, concept of Personal drugs (P-drug) and source of drug information. Data were statistically analysed using Chi-square test.

Results: Mean age of Resident Doctors was 24.55±1.74 years while of interns was 22.86±1.27 years. Eighteen (12.08%) residents and 9 (4.39%) interns knew what the phrase RUM meant. At their place of employment, the National Model Essential Drug List was accessible to 12 (5.6%) interns and 16 (10.73%) residents. Out of total, 190 (92.68%) interns and 143 (95.97%) residents were able to identify the components of the prescription slip accurately. The word P-drug was known to roughly 74 (36.09%) interns and 34 (22.81%) residents, of which 45 (21.95%) interns and 27 (18.12%) residents were aware of the Safety, Tolerability, Efficacy, Price (STEP) criteria for P-drug selection.

Conclusion: Majority of the responders seem to be aware of the concept of EM and RUM, while the word P-drug seems to be quite unknown to the responders. However, majority of responders prescribed EM which are old drugs. Since, the awareness of RUM among interns and residents was found to be inadequate it has critical importance to hold educational activities with the cooperation of physicians, health organisations, universities to avoid negative consequences of irrational drug use.