Prescribing patterns of antidiabetic drugs in elderly patients attending a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the most known chronic diseases in almost all countries and continues to rise in numbers and significance. Prescription pattern studies are drug utilization studies with the main focus on prescribing, dispensing, and administration of drugs and are mainly undertaken to promote rational use of medicines. Aims and Objectives: To study the prescribing patterns of antidiabetic drugs in elderly patients attending tertiary care hospitals. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. After obtaining Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, written informed consent was obtained from all patients in the study. After consultation, prescriptions issued to the patients were copied into pro forma and case record forms. All participants with a disease duration >1 year and an age above 65 years were included in the study. Details like the number of drugs, dosage forms, frequencies, and number of comorbidities were entered into the pro forma. Results: The total number of drugs prescribed was 654. The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.18. The most commonly prescribed class of drugs were biguanides (93.4%), followed by sulfonylureas (81%), and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (42.3%). Generic drugs were seen in 97.4% of prescriptions, and insulins were seen in 22% of prescriptions. The percentage of prescriptions with drugs from the Essential Drug List (EDL) was 98%. Conclusion: Prescription pattern monitoring studies would thus help in the understanding of the extent of quality prescribing and rationality. In this study, the prescribing of injections, generic prescribing, and prescribing from EDL were adequate.