An Observational Study for Antifungal Drug Prescription Pattern in Out Patient Department of Skin & VD, SMS Hospital, Jaipur

•Skin is the largest organ and is the first protective barrier that is exposed to various environmental and chemical factors, as well as infections.

•Skin diseases affect almost 900 million people in the world at any time, are among the highest of all human diseases & the fourth leading cause of nonfatal disease burden worldwide.

•The earliest most common fungal infections which are Tinea Corporis (Ring-worm) and Tinea Cruris (Jock Itch).

•Fungal infections can affect the quality of life of affected individuals with significant impact on sleep patterns, emotions & social life.

•Currently, five common classes of antifungal drugs such as Azoles, Polyenes, Echinocandins, Allylamines and Pyrimidine analogs are available for superficial and systemic antifungal therapies.

•Among these, Azole class of drugs includes Imidazoles (Miconazole and Ketoconazole) and Triazoles (Fluconazole and Voriconazole) have been the most successful backbone.

•Large varieties of systemic as well as topical antifungal agents are available in the market. Some newer antifungal agents are flooding into the market in current days e.g. Eberconazole and Posaconazole.

•The WHO has developed three highly standardized core drug use indicators.5 These are prescribing indicators, patient care indicators, and facility indicators.

•Hence this study aims to evaluate the prescription pattern with distribution of fungal disease.

•Prescription of drugs requires expertise in diagnostics, an understanding of common medications and their therapeutic effects, adverse effects, and drug interactions, a grasp of the fundamentals of clinical pharmacology, communication abilities, and the capacity to weigh the pros and cons of treatment.

•In tropical countries like India, Fungal infections are more common and have increased in the last four decades due to environmental factors, increased use of broad spectrum antifungal agents and increasing prevalence of patients with immune deficiency states.

•Frequency of invasive fungal infections with the emergence of new species of pathogenic fungi have increased vastly, so rational use of antifungal drugs in clinical practice has important implications for patient care as it can facilitate their rational use for prophylaxis, empirical, pre-emptive & targeted treatment.

•The purpose of the present study is to understand the prescribing pattern of antifungal agents, their use will be standardized as per WHO prescribing indicators, also analyzing the factors such as the choice, dosages, treatment duration, and considerations of patient demographics and co-morbidities, which will enhance the rational use of antifungal drugs.