PRESCRIBING PATTERN OF DRUGS FOR DIABETIC PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE PRIVATE SECTOR HOSPITAL, PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN

OBJECTIVE: to determine the prescription pattern of drug for hospitalized patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) attending a tertiary care hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted from January 2015 to February 2015 in the department of endocrinology of tertiary care private sector hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan. During 2 months study period, 354 prescriptions were collected and analyzed. Prescriptions written for all DM patients of any gender, socio-economic status, religion specificity and ethnicity were included. RESULTS: Out of 354 patients, 209 (59%) were female and 145 (41%) were males; majority age group was 60-69 years. Most common concurrent disease with DM was hypertension (31.63%). The maximum time spent by diabetic patients in hospitals was 3-days (27.15%). The most prescribed drugs were cardiovascular drugs (21.80% in females and 26.11% in males) followed by antibiotic (16.02% in females and 17.04% in males patients). Most common prescribed dosage form to female diabetic was tablet (46.19%) and to male diabetics was injection (45.84%). The most frequently prescribed anti-diabetic drug as a monotherapy was insulin (29.66%), two-drug combination was sitagliptin+metformin (8.47%), three-drug drug combinations were insulin+sitagliptin+metformin (5.08%) and four drug combinations were insulin+vildagliptin+metformin+pioglitazone (0.84%). The most frequently antibiotic prescribed for the management of diabetic foot was ceftriaxone (14.45%). CONCLUSION: In our study, most prescribed antihyperglycemic monotheray drug for hospitalized diabetic patient was insulin and two-drug combination drugs were sitagliptin+metformin. The most commonly drugs prescribed apart from anti-diabetic were cardiovascular drugs followed by antibiotics.