Abstract

Background: P-drug is a personal or preferred or priority choice drug of a clinician. The aim of the study is to evaluate the knowledge, awareness, and practice of P-drug which helps the postgraduates to prescribe drugs rationally. Aim and
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, awareness, and practice of P-drug concept among postgraduate students at a tertiary care teaching hospital Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bellary.
Materials and Methods: The study was a prospective cross-sectional pre-validated questionnaire-based study conducted in the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bellary. A total of 300 postgraduates were enrolled and instructed to fill the questionnaire forms. These filled forms were collected, and data were analyzed.
Results: Of 300 members, 285 filled the questionnaire, and these forms were evaluated. About 19.7% among them were aware of P-drug, 32.6% were aware of P-treatment, 38.5% were not including fixed-dose combinations in their P-drug list, 33.6% were aware of advantages of prescribing P-drug, and 97.3% felt that teaching programs were needed for preparing P-drug list. Conclusion: For improving the quality of health care and practicing rational use of medicine, the P-drug concept is very helpful. As only few studies have been conducted on the P-drug concept, the institutional teaching review board should conduct teaching programs regarding the P-drug concept.