Evaluation of prescription pattern of anti - Hypertensive drugs in Urban population of Hyderabad

Abstract

Knowledge of existing prescription patterns in the treatment of hypertension can provide useful information for improving clinical practice in this field. The aim of this study is to determine the prescription pattern of Antihypertensive medication in Outpatient General Clinics of a locality in urban population of Hyderabad. A Retrospective study was carried out by evaluating 300 prescriptions of Antihypertensive drugs for a period of six months from five Outpatient clinics of Hyderabad city. The study assessed prescribing patterns for Antihypertensive drugs in five classes-Calcium channel Blockers, β blockers, ACE inhibitors, Angiotensin Receptor Blockers, Thiazide Diuretics. The contents of the prescriptions were evaluated on the basis of drugs used for Hypertension and brand names were decoded to generic names using standard CIMS India and the Internet. Out of the 300 prescriptions evaluated 195 were of male patients & 105 of them were of female patients. Frequency of use of Antihypertensives as monotherapy was β blockers-22%. Calcium Channel Blockers-13%, Angiotensin receptor Blockers-13%, ACE inhibitors-12%, Diuretics- 1%. The most commonly used combination of drugs were Calcium Channel blockers + β blockers-13%, Angiotensin receptor Blockers + β blockers-8.3%. Angiotensin receptor blockers + Calcium Channel Blockers- 5%, Angiotensin receptor blocker + Diuretic-4.6%, β blocker + Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors-3%, β blockers + Diuretic-1%, Calcium Channel blocker + Diuretic-1%. This study shows that the most commonly prescribed drug classes involved were β blockers followed by Calcium Channel blockers. Angiotensin receptor blockers and Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors. Major limitations of this work include its retrospective nature and the inability to determine the actual patient’s adherence to therapy.

Keywords

• antihypertensives
• prescription
• blood pressure control.