Drug Utilization Evaluation On Antidiabetic, Thyroid And Antithyroid Drugs

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the drug utilization of antidiabetic, thyroid and antithyroid drugs at an endocrinology speciality hospital among the ambulatory patients. Method: This was a prospective observational study conducted for a period of 6 months. Patients who were diagnosed with either diabetes mellitus (both type-I & type-II) or thyroid disorders and receiving their respective pharmacological therapy irrespective of age and gender were included in this study. Pregnant, lactating women and patients with endocrine problems other than diabetes mellitus and thyroid disorders were excluded from this study. Results: The total number of cases collected and analyzed during a period of 6 months was 246 in which 139 (56.5%) were diabetes mellitus and 107 (43.5%) were thyroid disorders. Among the parenteral hypoglycaemic agents, long acting-insulin glargine and intermediate acting + short acting- NPH + regular insulin were prescribed in almost similar frequency. In case of mono therapy, teneligliptin was the most commonly prescribed medication and this was the unique finding in this study which signified that the trend in prescribing pattern is changing and updating from time to time. In dual combination therapy Glimepiride + Metformin and in triple combination Glimepiride + Metformin + Voglibose combinations were the most commonly prescribed medication. In hypothyroidism, supplementation with levothyroxine was the only treatment alternative as it is related to the underactive thyroid, secreting insufficient amount of hormone. Irrespective of many classes of drugs available in treating hyperthyroidism carbimazole was the most frequently prescribed drug in this study. Conclusion: It was observed that some changes in the prescribing pattern of antidiabetic drugs that signified the trend in drug utilization pattern. Clinical pharmacists should play a key role in observing and identifying the trends in prescribing patterns by performing the drug utilization evaluation studies thereby providing a better pharmaceutical care in collaboration with the other health care professionals.