A Study of Polypharmacy in Patients with Co-Existing Diabetes Mellitus Type II and Hypertension in a Tertiary Care Center

Abstract

Introduction Polypharmacy is most commonly defined as the use of five or more medications daily by an individual. In India, the prevalence of polypharmacy varies from 5.82 % to 93.14% in different states. Concerns about polypharmacy include increased adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, prescribing cascade, and higher costs. Methods It is a non-interventional, observational, descriptive study carried out in 240 patients attending the medicine outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital, over a one-and-a-half-year duration. Results The study was carried out in 240 patients whose mean age was 53.97 ± 7.62 years, out of which 52.5% were male and 47.5% were female. 62% of the study population were from low socioeconomic status and 38 % were from the middle class. The mean duration in years for hypertension and diabetes was 7.1± 4.3years and 7.94+ 4.66 years respectively. Apart from various antihypertensive and antidiabetic medicines prescribed the study population was also prescribed Vitamins (51.6%), Hypolipidemics (42.5%), Miscellaneous (41.6%), Antiplatelets (40%), H2 blockers/PPI (35.8%), and Antibiotics (22.5%). Polypharmacy (5 or more than 5 drugs) was seen in 33.75% of the study population. Conclusion Polypharmacy has been found to be integral in patients suffering from hypertension with coexisting diabetes mellitus and other comorbidities. It is essential to practice judicious prescribing especially in patients with multiple conditions.