Publication:

Prescription pattern of antihypertensive drugs in a tertiary care hospital: a cross-sectional study

Background Hypertension is a significant public health issue requiring long-term pharmacological management. This study aimed to analyse the prescription pattern of antihypertensive drugs and evaluate adherence to WHO prescribing indicators in a tertiary care hospital.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 178 hypertensive patients attending the Medicine Out-Patient Department of VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi. The sociodemographic details were recorded, and prescriptions were analysed using WHO Core Drug Prescribing Indicators.

Results The majority of the study population (67%) was aged above 50 years, with females (63.48%) outnumbering males (36.52%). The most commonly diagnosed hypertension grade was pre-hypertension (43.25%), followed by stage 1 (38.20%) and stage 2 (16.30%). Monotherapy was observed in 38.76% of prescriptions, while dual therapy (46.06%) was the most frequently prescribed combination. Amlodipine (5mg,10mg) was the most commonly used monotherapy (20.22%), whereas Amlodipine + Telmisartan (17.41%) was the most prescribed dual therapy. WHO prescribing indicators revealed an average of 4.76 drugs per prescription, with 73.58% of drugs prescribed by generic name and 71.34% from the WHO Essential Drug List.

Conclusions The study highlights a preference for combination therapy in hypertension management, with adherence to WHO prescribing guidelines showing room for improvement. Emphasis should be placed on rational prescribing, especially with generic drugs, to optimize treatment outcomes.