A prospective study of evaluating the prescribing pattern of antidiabetic drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has emerged as a major health issue, leading to an increase in morbidity and mortality rates, and this must be addressed by promoting rational drug use. Aims and objectives: To study drug utilization to assess the prescribing pattern of antidiabetic drugs in patients with diabetes and hypertension. Materials and methods: In the present prospective study, 75 patients were studied in the Department of Medicine and endocrinology, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, from January 2020 to May 2021. After recording the patient's detailed history and physical parameters, prescribing pattern of all the patients diagnosed either as T2DM or hypertension was assessed. Results: Metformin (95 %) followed by glimepiride (80%) and gliptins (70%) were the most commonly prescribed drugs. Insulin was found to be the least commonly used drug in this investigation. The most common treatment was triple-drug therapy (40%), followed by dual therapy (29.33 %). SGLT2i use was significantly higher (p=0.0006) than in patients with diabetes only. The most commonly prescribed antihypertensive medication was telmisartan (67.27%).Conclusion: Still, physician OHAs is the drug of choice for treating T2DM as metformin was the most commonly prescribed drug, followed by glimepiride.