A cross-sectional study on drug utilization and it’s cost analysis in the urological disorders and other health issues in patients of a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

To evaluate drug utilization patterns in terms of WHO indicators, urological disorders, and other health issues in patients of a tertiary care hospital.After obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, a cross-sectional study was carried out among 200 inpatients in a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore. The data were collected from the patient case profile and prescriptions and noted in a self-designed data collection form. The statistical analysis of the collected data was performed using SPSS software and Excel. In a study of 200 patients with urological disorders (129 males and 67 females), common co-morbidities included diabetes, hypertension, and hypothyroidism. Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) and Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) were the prevalent diagnoses. Prescribed drugs included analgesics, antipyretics (26.7%), antibiotics (18.1%), proton pump inhibitors (18.0%), anti-hypertensives (8.7%), anti-emetics (7.9%), anti-hyperlipidemic (7.6%), vaccines (7.5%), and loop diuretics (5.5%). Average drugs per prescription were 6.94, with 23.79% prescribed generically. Antibiotics accounted for 48% of encounters, and injectables were used in 52% of cases. All the drugs came from the essential list. Polypharmacy affected 58% of patients over 50 years, with 32 major interactions and observed adverse drug reactions.  The current research provides valuable insights into the overall pattern of drugs used in urological disorders. Physicians should be encouraged to increase generic prescribing to reduce medication cost burdens as well as to avoid unessential drugs, which may lead to polypharmacy and may result in other medication-related problems.