Prescription Practice for Diabetes Management among a Female Population in Primary Health Care

Abstract

Introduction. Prescription for diabetes care is an important practice in primary care. Methods. This is a descriptive study carried out on at primary care clinics over a five-month period at Al Imam Medical Complex, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was cross-sectional study of 160 female diabetic patients, who visited the services between January and May, 2012. Data were collected from the medical records on the clinical characteristics and drugs prescribed for their diabetic management. Results. The majority of the sample population (82%) was older than 40 years old. Half of them had concomitant hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and obesity. There were 500 prescriptions for diabetes management. More than 57% of participants were on two or more drugs for hyperglycemia. Metformin was the most common drug prescribed. Metformin and sulphonylurea were the most common combined medications. Most of cases ( 70%) were on a combination of antihypertensive drugs. ACE or ARBs and diuretic was the most common combined prescriptions. Statins and aspirin were used by 41% and 23.8% of the research population, respectively. Conclusion. Polypharmacy is a feature in diabetes care. Most of the prescription practice for diabetic care follows the recommended guidelines for hyperglycemia and hypertension. Management of dyslipidemia among diabetic patients, however, is an area that needs to be developed.