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Study to Assess the Prescription Pattern and Quality of Life in Osteoarthritis Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) often called wear and tear arthritis is a chronic progressive musculoskeletal joint disease with multifactorial aetiology, affecting millions of people around the world. It is one of the leading causes of morbidity, having major impact on Quality of Life (QoL) of the patient with substantial economic and social burden. OA can have a negative impact on health related QoL and psychological well-being of the individual. Aim: To evaluate the prescribing trends of drugs in the management of OA in a tertiary care teaching hospital and to assess the effect of pharmacotherapy on QoL of OA patients in terms of subjective and functional status using Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis index scale (WOMAC)-modified Centre for Rheumatic Disease (CRD) Pune version OA patients. Materials and Methods: Prospective observational study conducted among the OA patients in Orthopaedic Department over the period of one year between November 2014-December 2015. Adult patients of either gender diagnosed with OA for minimum period of three months were enrolled for the study. Out of 285 eligible patients, drug therapy of 256 patients’ data were analysed and they were given treatment by the treating orthopaedician. All the patients were asked to personally complete the WOMAC index scale during their first visit. They were followed-up for one month of pharmacotherapy in order to assess change in the WOMAC index scale. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software 16.0 version. The p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Among 256 patients who completed the study, the most frequently prescribed drug class was NSAIDs (82.1%). Acelofenac with Paracetamol combination (117) and Diclofenac monotherapy (44) were most commonly prescribed. Statistically significant reduction in the WOMAC (pain, stiffness and physical function) score was observed in the follow-up visit when compared to first visit (p<0.0001) after one month of pharmacotherapy in patients taking Diclofenac and Aceclofenac with Paracetamol combination. Conclusion: This study highlighted the significant improvement in QoL and significant reduction in WOMAC scores with Aceclofenac-Paracetamol combination and Diclofenac monotherapy in OA patients.