A Cross-Sectional study of Drug Prescription Pattern in Urticaria patients attending Dermatology & Venereology Department in a Rural Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: Urticaria is a very common skin condition characterized by recurrent, pruritic (itchy), pink-to-red edematous (swollen) lesions that often have pale centers (wheals). Histamine is the main mediator of urticaria and H1 antihistamines represent the initial and mainstay treatment of urticaria. The newer second generation H1 antihistamines are preferred over the older first generation H1 antihistamines as the initial choice of therapy due to its less sedating and less cholinergic side effects. Although numerous treatments are available for urticaria, there is little information about the prescription pattern for the treatment of urticaria. Hence this study was conducted. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 100 newly diagnosed and untreated patients of urticaria who attended Dermatology and Venereology outpatient department of a rural tertiary care teaching hospital. The prescriptions were collected for the duration of 18 months and details of prescription (particulars of the patient, diagnosis, name of the drugs, dose, route of administration, total duration etc.) were collected in case record forms. Results: Majority of the patients (34) belonged to the age group of 21-35years. The mean age of the patients was 34.35±15.26 years. Most of the patients were treated with oral antihistamines. Among oral antihistamines, most of the patients received 2nd generation antihistamines either as monotherapy or in combination with 1st generation antihistamines and H2 blockers. Among 2nd generation antihistamines, fexofenadine was prescribed highest either as monotherapy or in combination with levocetirizine and cetirizine. Patients with more severe form of disease were treated with combination of oral and parenteral therapy. Further long term study is required for proper assessment of prescription pattern in urticaria patients. Conclusion: Most of the patients with urticaria can be effectively treated with Oral antihistaminic medication, and additional parenteral therapy may be required only for severe cases of acute on chronic urticaria. Keywords: Urticaria, Oral medication, Parenteral therapy, Antihistamines