A Cross Sectional Study to Analyze Drug Utilization Pattern of Pain Clinic in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Central India
,
Abstract
Background: Pain is associated with increased prevalence of chronic diseases which adversely affects the quality of life of patients. This also leads to increased demand of drugs for chronic pain relief. Drug utilization pattern studies of pain clinic are therefore important to ascertain rational use of medicines in healthcare system.The study aims to evaluate drug utilization pattern in pain clinic of a tertiary care teaching hospital.
Methods: A cross sectional study was done by analyzing prescriptions of patients at pain clinic of MYH Hospital of Indore, MP, India, for a period of 3 months from November 2021 to January 2022. Total 260 prescriptions were analyzed on the basis of WHO core prescribing indicators, FDC (Fixed Dose Combinations) & NLEM (National List of Essential Medicines) list by using descriptive statistics.
Results: Study results showed that analgesics were most commonly prescribed in the age grou p 41-60 years. Lower back pain (28.8%) was the most common indication for prescribing analgesics in pain clinic with a female preponderance of 57.7%. Out of total 639 drugs, Fixed Dose Combinations (FDC)(76.2%) were more than single drugs (24.8%). 59.3% of drugs were concomitant medications. 80% (220) FDCs were generic and Gabapentin+Nortryptiline (31.8%) was the commonest FDC. Pregabalin was the most commonly prescribed single drug preparation. Average number of drugs per encounter were 2.45 and generic prescribing was 85.7%. Total 46% of medicines were prescribed from NLEM.
Conclusion: We found that FDC, generic prescribing and concomitant medications use was higher in our study. The study guides for rational prescribing of analgesics to maximize pain relief and minimize adverse effects associated with it.
2. Elvir-Lazo OL, White PF. The role of multimodal analgesia in pain management after ambulatory surgery. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2010;23: 697–703.
3. Classification of chronic pain. Descriptions of chronic pain syndromes and definition of pain terms. Prepared by the International Association for the Study of Pain, Subcommittee on Taxonomy. Pain Suppl. 1986;3:S1-226.
4. Saxena AK et al. The prevalence of chronic pain among adults in India. Indian J Palliat Care. 2018;24(4):472-477
5. Barkin RL. The pharmacology of topical analgesics. J Postgrad Med.2013;125(1):7–18.
6. McNeil MJ, Kamal AH, Kutner JS, Ritchie CS, Abernethy AP. The Burden of Polypharmacy in Patients Near the End of Life. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2016;51(2):178-83.e2.
7. World Health Organization. Introduction to drug utilization research. World Health Organization: Geneva, 2003. (Cited 2017 April 10). Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/42627.
8. .Demeke B, Molla F, Assen A, et al. Evaluation of drugs utilization pattern using WHO prescribing indicators in Ayder Referral Hospital, Northern Ethiopia. International Journal of Pharma Sciences and Research. 2015; 6(2):343-347)
9. Reddy RB, Kumar GY, Bhargavi KS, Kumar VS.A study on drug utilization pattern of analgesics in a tertiary care hospital. Indo Americal Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2021;8(4):78-86.
10. Dutta D, Dalai CK, Roy S, Naskar C, Bhattacharyya D. Drug utilization pattern in a pain clinic of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Eastern India. Indian Journal of Pain. 2013; 27(3):142-146.
11. Mohammad TCH, Beeegum IM, Perumal P. Prescribing pattern of analgesics in a tertiary care hospital. Int J PharmTech Res. 2011;3(3):1521-1529.
12. Shrank W, Hoang T, Ettner S, et al. The implications of choice. Arch Intern Med.2006;166(3):332-337.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 10, No 4 (Autumn 2022) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/jpc.v10i4.11577 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Drug Utilization Evaluation Analgesics World Health organization | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
