Prescription Pattern of Glucose-lowering Drugs in Patients with Controlled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Attending Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Abstract

The increasing number of patients with diabetes mellitus imposes an enormous burden on both the healthcare authorities and healthcare providers. The study's objective was to explore the prescription pattern of glucose-lowering drugs for patients with controlled type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) attending a tertiary hospital in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Endocrinology Outpatient Department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, for one year (February 2017 to January 2018). A total of 120 patients aged >12 years with T2DM were included in the study. Prescription analysis and demographic data were collected and recorded in the pre-designed case record form. Among the 120 prescriptions, the number of drugs prescribed per encounter ranged from 1 to 4. Oral drugs were prescribed most frequently (n=88, 73.3%), followed by different preparations of insulin; both (oral and insulin) were prescribed in 13.3% (n=16) of cases. Single drugs were used in 76.7% (n=92) of patients, whereas combined fixed-dose formulation and both types of formulation (single drug and combined fixed dose) were used in 17.5% and 5.8%, respectively. Of all, Metformin was the single most common (67.5%; n=81) drug prescribed by the physicians, followed by Gliclazide (n=19, 15.84%), Glibenclamide (n=14, 11.67%), and short-acting insulin (n=14, 11.67%). Besides, the overall drug use pattern in prescription showed most frequently used drugs were Metformin + Sulphonylureas (21.7%), Metformin (19.2%), Metformin + DPP-4 inhibitors (14.2%), Insulins (13.3%), DPP-4 inhibitors (9.2%) and Metformin + Insulin (9.2%) with a small share of other drugs. Moreover, short-acting insulin was used more commonly (n=14, 11.67%) than other formulations of insulin: long-acting insulin (n=13, 10.83%), premixed insulin (n=12, 10%), intermediate-acting insulin (n=5, 4.16%) and ultra short-acting insulin (n=2, 1.67%).