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PRESCRIBING PATTERN OF ANTIDIABETIC DRUGS IN TYPE-2 DIABETIC PATIENTS

Diabetes is a rapid gaining status of potential epidemic in India with more than 62 million diabetic individuals currently diagnosed with the disease. Drug utilization studies are important for the optimization of drug therapy and have received a great attention in recent years. The study of drug utilization or prescribing patterns is a component of medical audit, which seeks monitoring, evaluation and necessary modifications in the prescribing practices to achieve rational and cost effective pharmacotherapy. These studies serves as a tool of investigation for clinical pharmacology and as source of suggestive information for epidemiology. The present study aimed to evaluate the drug utilization pattern of standard antidiabetic drugs in a medicine outpatient clinic of a tertiary care teaching hospital. It’s a retrospective observational epidemiological study undertaken for a period of 8 months in outpatient unit of a tertiary care Hospital, Erode. The study enrolled 175 patient prescriptions. A total of 175 patients had co-morbid conditions along with diabetes. Commonly seen co-morbid condition in the study was hypertension. The study has shown metformin as the predominantly prescribed oral antidiabetic drug both as monotherapy as well as combination therapy. Overall, monotherapy was found to be predominant over combination therapy. There was no significant increase in the prescribing of newer oral antidiabetic agents like GLP-1receptor inhibitors and DPP-4 inhibitors. Glimepride + Metformin combination was the most commonly prescribed combination. This study revealed that the pattern of antidiabetic prescription was largely comply with NICE guidelines. INTRODUCTION: Diabetes is a rapid gaining status of potential epidemic in India with more than 62 million diabetic individuals currently diagnosed with the disease. 1, 2 The statistical report in the year 2000 precisely reported that India (31.7 million) topped the world with the highest number of people with diabetes mellitus followed by China (20.8 million) with the United States (17.7 million) in second and third place respectively. According to Wild et al., 3 the prevalence of diabetes is predicted to be double globally from 171 million in 2000 to 366 million in 2030 with a maximum increase in India. QUICK RESPONSE CODE DOI: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.7(11).4550-55 Article can be accessed online on: www.ijpsr.com DOI link: http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.7 (11).4550-55 It is predicted that by 2030 diabetes mellitus may afflict up to 79.4 million individuals in India, while China (42.3 million) and the United States (30.3 million), significant increases will be seen in all affected areas by the disease. 3, 4 India currently facing an uncertain future in relation to the potential burden that diabetes may impose upon the country. Many influences affect the prevalence of disease throughout a country, and identification of those factors is necessary to facilitate change when facing health challenges. Drug utilization studies are important for the optimization of drug therapy and have received a great attention in recent years. Drug utilization has been defined by the WHO as the marketing, distribution, prescription, and use of drugs in a society with a special emphasis on the resulting medical, social, and economic consequences. 5 These studies serves as a tool of investigation for