Drug utilization among diabetes mellitus patients in a tertiary care hospital in North-East India

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a spectrum of common metabolic disorders, arising from a variety of pathogenic mechanisms, all resulting in hyperglycemias. Drug utilization study of anti-diabetic agent is of paramount importance to promote rational drug use and also to make available valuable information for health planning.The present study was taken up to explore into the drug-utilization pattern among diabetic patients. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Pharmacology in collaboration with Medicine Department, JNIMS, Porompat during May 2018 – April 2020. A total of 100 patients aged 18 years or more with the clinical diagnosis of type II DM and admitted in the Medicine Ward were the study-subjects. Patients with co-morbid conditions were excluded from the study. Information on the medical compliance profile was collected by using the Medical Compliance Questionnaire. Females outnumbered males in the ratio of 1.2:1. The mean age of the patients is 55.03 years with a standard deviation (SD) of 8.58 years. The proportion of patients who took the prescribed drugs without any interruption was 66%. 64% of the patients never thought of giving up the medicationsin any circumstance, even though they started feeling better. 63% of the patients always carried the medications with them when they are away from home.The treatment adherence to medications among the study-subjects was found to be 66%. This variation might be because of inadequate counseling during starting of the therapy and also during the follow-up periods. This issue needs to be focused while initiating diabetic medications.