An observational study of drug prescription pattern in the treatment of acne vulgaris

Abstract

Background: Acne Vulgaris is the most common skin disorder of the pilosebaceous unit with excess sebum production, follicular epidermal hyperproliferation, inflammation and Propionibacterium acnes activity, affecting about 80% of teenagers and has considerable psychological and social consequences and physical disability. Aim: To evaluate the pattern of prescription and its rationale in the drug therapy of acne vulgaris. Methods: This prospective, hospital based, observational study evaluated Demographic data, Disease data and data pertaining to the drug therapy of the subjects considering the Inclusion and Exclusion criteria. Results: The prescription data of 346 patients were analyzed of which 45.1% were males with an average age of 21.94±0.3 years. Among the four grades of Acne Vulgaris, Grade II (53.17%) was more prevalent followed by Grade I (26.58%), Grade III (13.87%) and Grade IV (6.35%). The number of drugs prescribed for topical use was 514 of which the most commonly prescribed drugs were Tretinoin alone (19.46%), a combination of Tretinoin and Clindamycin (17.12%), Benzoyl Peroxide (12.45%), Clindamycin alone (10.51%) etc. The number of drugs prescribed for systemic use was 98 consisting of Doxycycline (55.1%), Azithromycin (34.7%), Isotretinoin (6.12%) and Erythromycin (4.08%). Conclusions: There was rationality in most of the prescriptions giving no scope for polypharmacy.