Audit of Safety Profile of Drugs Being Used to Treat Elderly Type II Diabetics: Observations from a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background and Objective: The treatment of elderly people who have developed Type II diabetes is a major challenge. Therefore, this study was conducted to ascertain the drug prescription pattern and the adverse effects of drugs in a tertiary care hospital. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, observational study. This study was carried out on 164 elderly patients with diabetes mellitus attending inpatient and outpatient of the institute. This study assesses the prescribing pattern of antidiabetic drugs and adverse drugs reaction to the drugs administered. Naranjo-Algorithm Probability of American depositary receipt (ADR) scale and WHO prescribing indicators were used for assessment. This study also identifies the drug utilization in diabetic patients associated with other co-morbidities. Results: Mean age of the patient was 72.5 in both inpatient and outpatient and male:female ratio among inpatient and outpatient 1.5:1 and 1:1.3, respectively. Metformin (biguanide) was the most commonly prescribed antidiabetic drug and was followed by glimepiride. Insulin was used in 65% of inpatient. Potential drug-drug interactions were noted in 71% of inpatient and 50.8% of outpatient. The incidence of ADR observed in this study was3.6%. Conclusion: Metformin and glimepiride were the most common drugs used in both inpatient and outpatient groups. Human regular insulin analog was commonly used in both patients group. The poor reporting in pharmacovigilance although mandated by the Indian Council of Medical Research is falling short; in preempting ADR. Effective pharmacovigilance will improve the quality of life in geriatric patients and would help the treating physicians to steer towards safe and effective healthcare.