Prescribing Pattern of Antihypertensive Drugs in Hypertensive Patients with Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus at Tertiary Care Hospitals in Karachi Pakistan

Introduction: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the most serious public health issues in the world, affecting around 1.4 billion people worldwide. HTN is becoming highly prevalent in Pakistan, about more than 33% of people over the age of 40 years suffering from the HTN. The illness burden is continuously growing due to the incorrect medicine prescriptions, a lack of education, and a lack of patient compliance. The existence of comorbidities such as Diabetes Mellitus (DM) should be properly considered while choosing an Antihypertensive medication. Similarly, the prescriptions of Oral Hypoglycemic agent’s appropriate consideration are essential. Oral hypoglycemic medications are divided into several categories. Physicians face a challenge in rationally selecting a regimen from a variety of classes, and the situation becomes more complicated when the patients have additional non-communicable illnesses, such as HTN. The combination therapy of ailments not only effects the patient`s economic status but also effects the quality of life.

Objective: To study the prescribing pattern of Antihypertensive drugs in Hypertensive patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus at Tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: A cross sectional study was undertaken for six months in medicine outpatient department at tertiary care hospitals of Karachi. The study population was observed for the prescribed pattern of Antihypertensive medicines by assessing the 300 prescriptions of Hypertensive patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20. Data was presented as frequencies and percentages.

Results: The result revealed that the most commonly prescribed single antihypertensive drug was Enalapril 66 (22%) followed by Amlodipine 63(21%), Ramipril 57(19%), Diltiazem 33(11%), Lisinopril 21(7%) losartan k 6(2%), Nebivolol 6(2%), Bisoprolol 3(1%). Dual therapy included Ramipril and Nebivolol 1(0.33%) and Amlodipine+Valsartan 35 (11.67%), Amlodipine+Valsartan+HCTZ 9 (3%) were the antihypertensive drugs prescribed as fixed dose combinations.

Conclusion: The present study shows Enalapril belonging to Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor (ACEI) class was frequently used as single Antihypertensive agent and Amlodipine+Valsartan belonging Calcium Channel Blockers (CCBs) and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) was the most frequently prescribed fixed dose combination while managing Hypertension of Hypertensive patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.