Publication:

Utilization pattern of oral hypoglycemic agents for diabetes mellitus type 2 patients attending out-patient department at tertiary care centre in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

Background Diabetes mellitus type 2 is a chronic disease that may be due to insulin deficiency and insulin resistance or both. The resultant hyperglycemia leading to micro and macro vascular complications.The objective was to evaluate drug utilization pattern of oral hypoglycemic agents in type-2 diabetic attending OPD.

Methods A prospective study was carried out in 200 out patients for a period of 3 months in a tertiary care hospital. Patients treated with oral hypoglycemic agents were taken for the study.

Results In the present study 102(51%) were male. Majority (40%) of patient were in the age group 50-60 years. Metformin was the most commonly prescribed drug (38.3%), followed by sulfonylurea class of drugs (35.6%). Majority of the patients n=143(71.5%) were on combination therapy in comparision to monotherapy (28.5%). Fixed dose combinations more preferred more. Brand name was prefered (98.1%) on generic drugs. Comorbid condition was found in 117 patients (58.5%).  And hypertension (34%) was the the most common comorbid condition. The average number of antidiabetic drugs per prescription was 2.2.

Conclusions Metformin was the most commonly used drug .The prescribing trend also appears to be more towards combination therapy. It was seen that particularly two drug were used.