European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

STUDY OF PRESCRIBING PATTERN OF ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS IN INDIA: A REVIEW

*Dev Priya, Prof. Suresh Purohit, Prof. B. L. Pandey, Prabhat Upadhyay

ABSTRACT

Hypertension, a leading contributor to the global burden of causes of disease, continues its upward growth trend. In the year 2000 hypertension was estimated to affect almost one billion patients worldwide and the prevalence is predicted to increase by approximately 60% by 2025. Based on clinical evidence and cost-effectiveness, guidelines developed by the Joint National Committee (JNC) in the United States and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom recommended that diuretics should be the drug of first choice for patients with no compelling indications. However, the results of various studies have shown that adherence to such clinical guidelines and recommendations are not at all uniform; indeed, they have been found to vary by time period and country and by the characteristics of patients and physicians. The primary goal of anti-hypertensive therapy is to prevent morbidity and mortality associated with hypertension. Various drug classes are used in the management of hypertension and they include diuretics, β-blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers. The study of a prescription pattern is in fact, a part of medical audit involving monitoring and evaluation of various prescriptions of medical practitioners to ensure rationality in medical care. This review study therefore envisages evaluation of the pattern, extent, rationality and frequency of use of the antihypertensive drugs in the treatment of essential hypertension for information to the esteemed medical fraternity.

Keywords: Prescription, Hypertension, cost-effectiveness, medical audit.