Drug Utilization

Coronary artery disease is a condition in which there is an inadequate supply of blood and oxygen to a portion of the myocardium. It is the major cause responsible for mortality more in younger age group than in elderly. Since it is an emergency condition where usage of many drugs during its management is common. The study of drug utilization is a component of a medical audit and periodic evaluation should be done to enable suitable modifications in the prescription of drugs and maximize the therapeutic benefit and minimize the adverse effects. When new drugs are used additional information on safety and efficacy may be generated. In this review most of the prescription contain anti-platelet drugs, ACE inhibitors/ ARBs, Statins, Beta-blockers, Nitrates, Calcium channel blockers and Diuretics. Keywords: Drug Utilization, Coronary Artery Diseases, Anti- Platelet Drugs  

Steroids are widely prescribed and used by practitioners due to powerful anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive actions. So, care should be exercised in the rational selection of steroids1. Hence this study was aimed to evaluate the utilization of corticosteroids with the secondary objective to assess co-prescription with corticosteroids, the nature and severity of adverse drug reactions and drug-drug interactions, with an intention to prevent the inappropriate use of corticosteroids. A prospective observational study was carried out in 215 In-patient from various departments of the hospital during 6 months period and subjected to statistical analysis. Out of 215 In-patients, 145 were male and 70 were female, in which most of the patients (22.7%) belongs to age group of 51-60 years. The major complaints were respiratory tract disorders (about 48%) and most of the patients (82%) were prescribed single corticosteroids as monotherapy (42.3%, budesonide) in same or different dosage forms. The commonly used route of administration was inhalation (48%) and is co-prescribed with antibiotics (19.5%). The average number of drugs prescribed was 7.16 drugs per prescription. The mean duration of corticosteroids use was 3.20 ± 1.98 days. The incidence of drug interactions observed were higher (78.6%), with most of them were moderate interactions. The ADR observed with study population were few and minor. The study concluded that, the prescription of corticosteroids is found to be rational except for drug interactions and dosage regimen. Hence the involvement of clinical pharmacists in clinical practice helps to increase proper usage of corticosteroids and optimum outcome.