Fixed Dose Combinations:Understanding of Resident Doctors at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Background: Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) improve patient compliance and decrease pill burden. Irrational prescribing of FDCs is a major health concern. As resident doctors are primarily involved in patient management at tertiary care hospitals, knowledge about prescribing FDCs is of paramount importance. Objective: To evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice, regarding use of FDCs by interns and postgraduates at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out among interns and postgraduate students working at Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore, a tertiary care hospital. 200 resident doctors from various departments who gave informed consent, were enrolled. A prevalidated questionnaire regarding knowledge, attitude and prescribing practice of fixed dose combinations was used as a tool. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results:200 residents, 120 were postgraduate students and 80 were interns.The resident doctors were not aware about all of the advantages and disadvantages of FDCs. 28% of doctors were not aware of Essential Medicine List (EML). Only 62.9% resident doctors could name a single banned FDC in India. Common sources of information about FDCs were medical representatives, colleagues/peers,textbooks. 88%residents opined that FDCs should be allowed to be marketed and most commonly prescribed FDCs were of antimicrobial drugs, amongst which amoxicillin + clavulanic acid was the most frequent. Conclusion: There is need to improve knowledge about rationality, EML and banned FDCs among resident doctors to promote the rational use of drugs.