A study of the prescribing pattern of antihypertensive drugs in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of Andaman & Nicobar Island

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension is the increased systolic blood pressure of ?140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure of ?90 mm Hg. The antihypertensive drugs currently available are chosen on the basis of their efficacy, side-effects, and cost. Accordingly, a need to survey the pattern of usage of antihypertensive drugs is must, to see if the current usage is rational and in concordance with current guidelines for treatment of hypertension. Therefore this study was carried out with the aim of analyzing the pattern of antihypertensive drugs being prescribed and its adherence with JNC-8 guidelines, in a tertiary care Teaching hospital of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India.Material & methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was done in ANIIMS, Port Blair, India over a period of 6 months from October 2016 to March 2017, in which analysis of the prescriptions of patients of essential Hypertension was done. A total of 870 prescriptions were analyzed based on age group, gender, number of antihypertensives, combination/ or monotherapy. The results obtained were expressed as percentages & proportion and were compared with JNC-8 Guidelines.Observations: In this study, a total of, 870 prescriptions were analyzed and it was observed that male patients with hypertension were 586(67.3%), and female patients were 284(32.7%), with male: female ratio of 2.05:1. Also most common therapy was the combination therapy in 630(72.4%) patients, out of which a CCB+ Diuretic combination was the commonest in 318(50.4%), followed by ACE-I + Beta Blocker combination in 180(28.6%) patients. Most common Drug used as monotherapy was Diuretics in 110(45.8%) patients, followed by Calcium channel blockers in 82(34.2%) patients, followed by ARBs in 48(20.0%) patients.Conclusion: The trend of hypertension is on the rise, if treated rationally this disease can be overcome. This study suggests the trend of prescribing of antihypertensive drugs in ANIIMS Port Blair, India and will provide a baseline data for similar studies in future.