Search

Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the cost of illness of the patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted on patients admitted and discharged from ICU above 18 years of any medical illness for 6 months in ICU in a tertiary care teaching hospital, Pune. Data such as demographic details, diagnosis, disease class, cost of drug therapy, and medical care cost were obtained. The cost was analyzed using the bottom-up method and statistical analysis of data was done using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Mann–Whitney U test. Results: Of 400 patients, the average age was 54.27 years with a length of stay of 3.69 days and mortality rate of 12.25%. The average total cost per patient accounted for Rs. 52,840 and the per day cost was Rs. 14,319. Amongst various diagnoses, the cost incurred in alcoholic liver disease (ALD) accounted for Rs. 75,060 of the total cost, whereas the average per day cost observed in myocardial infarction (MI) was Rs. 15,495. The cost of drug therapy per patient was Rs. 5204.33 and total drug therapy accounted for 12.08%. The average number of drugs prescribed per patient was 8.44. Antimicrobial costs were observed as 28% of the total cost. The cost of antimicrobials was Rs. 1473 per patient. Medical care costs, including consultant and investigation charges per patient, were found to be Rs. 632 and Rs. 6861, respectively. Conclusion: The study reveals that ICU bed charges, miscellaneous charges, and drug therapy costs have more contribution to the direct medical cost of hospitalization.

Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of organ donation (OD) among pharmacy students. Methodology: A web-based, cross-sectional study of students pursuing different pharmacy courses was conducted. A specially designed questionnaire was used to survey the students. Results: A total of 160 students responded to survey. Nearly, three-fourth students wished to donate organs to anyone, 83.1% wanted to donate by considering the health status of the recipient, and 98.1% feel that OD should be promoted. Some negative findings were as follows: less knowledge about some uncommon organs that can be donated, for example, blood vessels, bone, intestine, and heart valves; 76.3% students do not know the process of registering while 84.4% have not registered/pledged for OD. Average knowledge about law related to OD was also poor, i.e., 1.87. Conclusion: Overall KAP for OD was positive for except for a few issues. There is need to add some OD related topic/s in the pharmacy curriculum.

Aim: To study prescribing pattern, comorbidities, and cost analysis in elderly hospitalized patients. Materials and Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted to assess the prescribing pattern, drug utilization, and cost analysis in elderly patients at a tertiary care hospital in Pune. Data of 120 patients were used to carry out the analysis. Result: A total of 120 elderly inpatients were included in the study. Of these 120 patients, 62 were male and 58 were female; among them, maximum number of patients belong to 60-74 years age group. Common comorbidities found were anemia, lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), urinary tract infection, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, etc. Mostly hospitalized patients were hypertensive (27.5%), diabetic (18.33%), and anemic (15.83%) followed by respiratory tract infections such as pulmonary Koch's, pneumonia, and LRTI. Two comorbid conditions were found in 33.33% of patients followed by 25% with one comorbid condition and 24.16% had three comorbid conditions; on an average, three comorbidities were found in a total number of patients. Major classes of drugs prescribed for treatment were cardiovascular drugs (22.60%), antibiotic (20.13%), antiplatelet (7.26%), and antidiabetic drugs (6.43%). The average cost per patient was calculated 5016.48 international normalized ratio, which includes physician, nursing, bed charges, and therapy cost. Conclusion: This study concludes that the prescribing pattern of elderly patients with age group 60-74 years were commonly prescribed for cardiovascular drugs and antibiotic, whereas this proportion was low compared to patients with age >74 years and prescribing pattern also resulted in financial burden on patients healthcare cost.