Study on drug utilization pattern in cardiology outpatient department at tertiary care hospitals in South India: A prospective multicenter cross-sectional observational study

Prescribing patterns of cardiovascular drugs in cardiology outpatient department in a tertiary care hospital in Western Odisha

“…In our study mean age for presentation was respectively 55.2414.27 years for male and 51.8115.79 years for female which was comparable to other studies done by Veeramani et al, Mugada et al 6,7 Prevalence among male 59.84% were more in number than female 40.16%, which was comparable to other studies that say that cardiovascular emergencies were more common in males than females. [7][8][9][10] The average number of drugs per prescription was documented 4.32±1.7 (3.731.1 for cardiovascular drugs), which is lower or comparable to mean values of many studies like 5 (Veeramani et al), 4.17 by (Mugada et al), 3.4 (Yadav p et al).…”

“…A sizable percentage of prescription (58.54%) drugs are antiulcer drugs (including PPI and antacids) better than 69.10% (Veeramani et al). 6 In our study, the percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names was 60.98% compared to 2.33% (Veeramani et al), 6.2% (Yadav et al), and 72.8% (Mugada et al). 6,11,7 WHO standard being 100%,12 doctors must be sensitized about prescribing drugs with their generic names to minimize the cost burden on the patients as well as adverse reactions due to brand name related confusion.…”

“…Contemporary studies document different percentages, 89.27% (Veeramani et al), 82.2% (Yadav et al), and 89.5% (Mugada et al). 6,11,7 The encounter with injectables was 2.92%. The WHO standard for the percentage of injections per encounter is 13.4-24.…”

“…[7][8][9][10] The average number of drugs per prescription was documented 4.32±1.7 (3.731.1 for cardiovascular drugs), which is lower or comparable to mean values of many studies like 5 (Veeramani et al), 4.17 by (Mugada et al), 3.4 (Yadav p et al). 6,7,11 The WHO standard or ideal value for the average number of drugs per prescription is 1.6-1.8. 12 Cardiovascular diseases many times require urgent and aggressive treatment that results in polypharmacy.…”

“…In our study, the percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names was 60.98% compared to 2.33% (Veeramani et al), 6.2% (Yadav p et al), and 72.8% (Mugada et al). 6,11,7 WHO standard being 100%, doctors must be sensitized about prescribing drugs with their generic names to minimize the cost burden on the patients as well as adverse reactions due to brand name related confusion. 12 In the present study, drugs prescribed from the national list of essential medicines (NLEM) 2015 was 75.89%.…”