Utilization Study of Antihypertensives in a South Indian Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital and Adherence to Standard Treatment Guidelines

Aim: Hypertension represents a major health problem primarily because of its role in contributing to the initiation and progression of major cardiovascular diseases. Concerns pertaining to hypertension and its sequelae can be substantially addressed and consequent burden of disease reduced by early detection and appropriate therapy of elevated blood pressure. This cross-sectional observational study aims at analyzing the utilization pattern of antihypertensives used for the treatment of hypertension at a tertiary care hospital in perspective of standard treatment guidelines. Materials and Methods: Prescriptions were screened for antihypertensives at the medicine outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Medical records of the patients were scrutinized after which 286 prescriptions of patients suffering from hypertension were included. The collected data were sorted and analyzed on the basis of demographic characteristics and comorbidities. Results: The calcium channel blockers were the most frequently used antihypertensive class of drugs (72.3%). Amlodipine (55.6%) was the single most frequently prescribed antihypertensive agent. The utilization of thiazide diuretics was 9%. Adherence to the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEMs) was 65%. The combination therapy was used more frequently (51.5%) than monotherapy (48.8%). The use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin 2 receptor blockers (ACE-I/ARB) was 41.4% in diabetes. Conclusions: The treatment pattern, in general, conformed to standard treatment guidelines. Few areas, however, need to be addressed such as the underutilization of thiazide diuretics, need for more awareness of drugs from the NLEMs and enhanced use of ACE-I/ARB in diabetic hypertensives.