A descriptive study on drug prescribing pattern in hypertensive patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Hypertension is highly prevalent and the goal of antihypertensive therapy is to abolish the risks associated with blood pressure (BP) elevation without adversely affecting quality of life. Drug selection is based on efficacy in lowering BP and in reducing cardiovascular (CV) end points including stroke, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. Not many studies are conducted in this part of world regarding drug utilization of antihypertensive drugs and hence this study was planned.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted for a period 6 month in outpatient department of a tertiary care centre of Government Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The prescriptions containing antihypertensive drugs were collected from the patients attending the outpatient department.Results: During the study period a total of 230 prescriptions were collected, out of which 196 were included for the final analysis. Mean age was found to be 62.42±7.77 years. In majority of cases (44.89%), a combination of two drugs was prescribed and among the two-drug combination, Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) and Calcium Channel Blockers (CCBs) were used most commonly (40.90%). Angiotension receptor blockers were used as single drug in most number of patients (41.66%). Proton pump inhibitors were the most common (35.71%) co-prescribed drug, followed by Anti platelet drugs (27.55%), Anti diabetics (16.32%) and Statins (16.32).Conclusions: Present study represents the current prescribing trend for antihypertensive agents. It implies that ARBs are the leading group of antihypertensive agents both when used singly and in combination. Further studies focused on the rationale for choice of drugs based on demographic data, economic status, associated comorbid conditions and complications would give additional insights into prescribing patterns in hypertension in India