Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rationalizing drugs and deprescribing potentially inappropriate medicines in elderly patients is a major challenge faced by doctors in today's era due to the ever-increasing number of diseases, drugs, changing guidelines, and indications. The objective of this study was to study the efficacy of case-based learning on prescription practices in postgraduate students on geriatric patients attending medical outpatient department (OPD). METHODS: Observation cross-sectional study done on postgraduate medicine residents working in medicine/geriatric OPD. Prescriptions were analyzed for quality by prescription quality index (PQI) score. The baseline PQI score was generated. An interactive workshop and training session on case-based learning on appropriate prescribing for the elderly was conducted. The prescribing habits and PQI scores were reassessed and compared to assess the change in PQI scores along with satisfaction levels and faculty feedback. RESULTS: A total of 60 prescriptions from 24 medicine residents were initially assessed for baseline PQI. A total of 41 residents participated in the workshop. Sixty fresh prescriptions were reassessed after one month of the workshop. The mean baseline PQI was 27.15 (±3.70) which increased to 31.81 (±3.60) [p < 0.001. The majority of the faculty (10/12) felt improvement in prescribing practices. Two third of residents (28/41) had a very good and excellent level of satisfaction with the case-based learning. CONCLUSION: Case-based learning is an effective tool for enhancing the prescribing skills of postgraduates, especially in geriatric patients. There was a significant improvement in PQI score after the case-based learning workshop in the prescriptions of the postgraduate students with a p-value of < 0.001.