Prescription Pattern Analysis of Antidiabetic Drugs in Diabetes Mellitus and Associated Comorbidities

Abstract

Background: The treatment options for Diabetes mellitus and their prescribing has increased over years. This needs appropriate selection of drugs. The main objective of this study was to highlight the current prescribing trends in Diabetes mellitus patients with other co-morbid conditions. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted on inpatients admitted to various wards in a tertiary care hospital for period of 6 months between October 2016- March 2017. Prescriptions of the patients are collected in a designed questionnaire form and the relevant information is recorded and analysed. Results: 235 patient prescription patterns were studied, out of which 62.97% were males and 37.02% were females. Most of the patients were in the age group of 41-60. Hypertension was the most commonly found co-morbid condition. Rapid acting insulin was mostly prescribed during hospital stay. Metformin was the commonly prescribed oral hypoglycemic agent followed by glimeperide. Conclusion: The adverse drug reactions can be minimized by replacing the drugs with novel therapeutic agents like Glucagon-like peptide agonist, Dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitors and Sodium-glucose transport inhibitors. The management of drug interactions should be done by clinical significance and correlation