Pattern of Drug Prescription in the Cardiology Unit of a Tertiary Care Centre

Abstract

Abstract INTRODUCTION Rational drug prescription is defined as the use of least number of drugs to obtain the best possible effect in shortest duration and at a reasonable cost. The various unintended outcomes may occur as a result of poor prescribing approach. Cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of morbidity and mortality throughout the world and number of drugs in single as well as in various  combinations is generally used for long-term management of cardiovascular disorders. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES As prescription based survey is considered as one of the most effective method to evaluate the prescribing attitude of  physicians, this study aimed to focus on the trends in the  prescription of cardiovascular drugs in the Dept of Cardiology in a teritiary care. MATERIALS AND METHODS A descriptive study was undertaken in the Dept of Cardiology during the period from November 2014 to December 2014. 65 patients gave informed consent and were enrolled in the study. Details of prescribed cardiovascular drug(s) like formulation, dose, route of  dministration, frequency, duration, whether the drug was            prescribed using generic name or brand name were recorded in the case record form and were analysed. The collected data was analysed and expressed as percentage. RESULTS It was observed that 52.30 of drug prescriptions were by combination therapy and 47.69 by combination therapy. Among the   combination therapies 44.61 of the patients were prescribed with two drug combinations and 7.69 with three drug combinations none of the fixed dose combinations were  approved by the WHO. The study also showed that all the  prescriptions were by brand names. CONCLUSIONS All the drugs were prescribed by their brand names and most of the drugs were prescribed in combinations and were found to be rational.