Abstract

EVALUATION OF ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUG PRESCRIPTION PATTERNS AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL, BANGALORE

Chandrika C.*, Anil Kumar, Dharshini N. M. and Gopinatha K.

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Abstract

Background: Irrational prescribing of drugs is strongly linked with poor control of hypertension. The present study was conducted with an objective to audit the pattern of prescribing of antihypertensive drugs at and asses the comorbidities among the hypertensive patients at Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore. Method: A hospital based prospective cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 6 months. Patients diagnosed with HTN with or without co-morbidities and prescribed with antihypertensive drugs, above 18 years of age of both genders were included in the study. A well-designed data collection form was used to collect the necessary information which was later analysed. Results: Study included 115 patients A total of 115 patients were included in the study which consisted of 82(71.30%) male subjects and 33 (28.70%) of female patients. Majority of the patients 73 (63.47%) were aged above 60 years. The most common co-morbidity was Diabetes mellitus, 69 (37.50 %) followed by ischemic heart disease, 49 (26.63%). Single-drug prescriptions were found to be common 50 (43.48%). Calcium channel blockers and β-blockers were the most commonly prescribed group with frequency 63 (54.78%) and 50 (40.87%) respectively. In two drug combination therapy study shows that ARB + β-Blockers (13.04%) were the most commonly prescribed drug. In three drug combination therapy study shows that ARB + Diuretics + β-blockers (2.61%) were the most commonly prescribed drugs. In four drug combination therapy study shows that ARB + CCB + β-blockers + Diuretics (1.74%) were the most commonly prescribed drugs. Conclusion: The use of antihypertensive drugs largely follows the international guidelines but there still exits a room for improvement in terms of rational drug utilization which demands the clinicians to be vigilant in adjusting the frequency of dosing. Further research on larger sample size and longer study period is necessary to provide more robust epidemiology and drug utilisation data.

Keywords: Hypertension, Antihypertensives, Prescribing patterns, Rational Drug Use