Vol. 5, Issue 7, Part A (2019)

Objectives: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the drug utilization pattern in treating patients with coronary artery disease at a tertiary care teaching hospital.

Methods and Materials: The present study is a prospective, observational prescription based study conducted from July 2017 to December 2018 for a duration of 18 months in the Department of Cardiology, Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, Guwahati after getting approval from Institutional Human Ethics committee. All patients diagnosed with CAD above 18 years of age irrespective of gender and giving proper written informed consent were included in this study.

Results: In the present study, a total of 887 patients were included. Among these, 69.22% were male and 30.78% were female. The most common age group diagnosed with CAD was 61-70 years (31.56%). Hypertension (68.09%) and diabetes (42.34%) were most commonly observed associated co-morbidities. The most common diagnosed category of CAD patients was anterior and inferior myocardial wall infarct (28%). The cardiovascular drugs prescribed for CAD were observed as anti-platelet drugs (98.53%), anti-hyperlipidemic drugs (97.40%), anti-anginal drugs (78.91%), anti-hypertensive drugs (68.09%), anti-coagulants (63.02%). Apart from these, other drugs prescribed were antibiotics (60.09%), diuretics (57.15%), bronchodilators (28.41%) and various miscellaneous drugs like proton pump inhibitors, multivitamins, NSAIDs etc (40.47%). The average number of drugs per prescription was found to be 6.78 and 23.38% of drugs were prescribed by generic name.

Conclusion: In the present study, it was observed that the risk for CAD increased with increasing age and co-morbid conditions like hypertension and diabetes. The optimal use of Fixed Drug Combinations of drugs, generic drugs and minimal polypharmacy should be promoted to increase the quality of life and to reduce economic burden on the patients.