A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF DRUG PRESCRIBING PATTERN IN PSORIASIS AT A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL IN SOUTHERN ASSAM, INDIA

Background: Environmental factors and genetics significantly impact the development of the chronic, inflammatory, debilitating, and proliferative skin disorder known as psoriasis. Erythematous plaques with distinct borders and silvery scales are signs of psoriasis. Objectives: This study aimed to study the pattern of drug use in psoriasis and to assess patient compliance. Materials & Methods: 96 patients were selected after they met the inclusion criteria. Microsoft Word and Excel were used to create graphs and tables, and statistical software called SPSS version 21 was used to analyze the data. Results: In most psoriasis patients, topical therapy helped cause and maintain the remission of lesions. Plaque psoriasis was the most common psoriasis. Scaly plaque, redness and itching were their most frequent symptoms. Glucocorticoids, either alone or in conjunction with other topical medicines like salicylic acid, calcitriol, coal tar, and a variety of emollients, were the drugs most frequently used for topical therapy. With the exception of formulations containing coal tar, patient compliance was good across the board for the majority of the participants. More than 96.87% of research participants demonstrated good compliance at week four and 98.95% at week eight topical medications. Conclusions: Thus, it was found in the current study that the majority of psoriasis patients respond well to topical treatments, and extra systemic and/or phototherapy may only be needed for severe cases of persistent plaque psoriasis.