A STUDY ON PRESCRIBING PATTERN OF CARDIOVASCULAR DRUGS & POTENTIAL DRUG - DRUG INTERACTIONS IN AN INPATIENT CARDIOLOGY UNIT OF A CARDIAC - CARE HOSPITAL AT TIRUPATHI.

Bandla Aswani*, Purushothama Reddy K., P. Yanadaiah and S. Sujatha

ABSTRACT

Cardiovascular disorders (CVD’s) are estimated to be the leading cause of mortality worldwide. A prospective observational study was carried out at inpatient department of cardiology in tertiary care hospital, Tirupathi from December 2012 – May 2013 during regular ward rounds. A survey of prescribing patterns was undertaken among inpatients admitted with cardiovascular disease. The demographic details and treatment data of the 180 inpatients were collected in a specially designed proforma. The average age of study population was found to be 59.06 ± 1.8 years. Subjects of age groups > 40 (92.77 %) were found to be more susceptible to CVD and majority of them were males 46.66 %. Average number of cardiovascular drugs per patient was 5.58. 57.05 % of the drugs prescribed were from the Indian 2011 list of essential drugs. Polypharmacy was observed in 68.33 % (123) prescriptions. The prescription rate of antiplatelet, anticoagulant and fibrinolytics were 22.46 %, followed by 20.07 % of antianginal drugs. The prescribing frequency of antianginal drugs 88.57 % during discharge time was higher. 390 potential drug - drug interactions were screened. Medication adherences were more in male patients 56.12 % among the 86.66 % of follow up patients. This preliminary study reveals a lot of scope for CVD prevalence studies in India and used for implementation of an alert guidelines.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cardiovascular drugs, Prescription pattern, drug - drug interactions & medication adherence.