DRUG UTILIZATION PATTERNS OF ANTI-DIABETIC AGENTSIN DIABETICS WITH CO-MORBIDITIES IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a lifestyle disorder with a deficiency in insulin secretion or loss of insulin sensitivity in the body. As the prevalence is becoming more global, a focus was made on the innovation of analyzing the latest treatments. A prospective observational study on drug utilization patterns for diabetes was conducted on 119 diabetic patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital. A specified informed consent form was collected from the patients prior to the study. All the relevant data was collected and analyzed. In the present study, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus was highest in patients aged 60-69 years, affecting 43.7% males and 56.3% females. The commonest co-morbid condition was hypertension (63%) followed by coronary artery disease (10.9%) and chronic kidney disease (9.2%). When it comes to the treatment, insulin was prescribed for about 90 (75.6%) diabetic patients, followed by oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHAs) (n=29; 24.4%). Amongst the drugs, it was also noted that 61 patients (51.2%) were administered metformin alone while the remaining patients were given insulin and other OHAs. The above results concluded that metformin was the only drug prescribed persistently and was the drug of choice for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The prescribing patterns in the present study give way to clinician/physician to go for better drugs in co-morbid conditions, considering the drug interactions as well.