PRESCRIPTION PATTERN STUDY OF ORAL GLUCOSE LOWERING AGENTS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES IN OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT OF A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterised by persistent hyperglycaemia. Globally, an estimated 537 million adults (20-79 years) were living with diabetes in 2021 -about 10.5 % of the worlds population in this age group, and the number is projected to reach 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045.[1] In India alone, approximately 77 million people had diabetes in 2019 and this is expected to increase to 134 million by 2045.[2]Appropriate selection of glucose-lowering agents and rational prescribing are therefore essential to control blood glucose and prevent complications. Objectives: To evaluate the demographic profile, antidiabetic prescription patterns, common drug combinations, and adherence to WHO prescribing indicators among T2DM outpatients at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted on 600 prescriptions of patients with T2DM attending the general medicine OPD of MG (Mahatma Ghandhi Missions) Hospital, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. Data was extracted from prescriptions into a spreadsheet. For each encounter we recorded the patients age and gender, the number of oral glucose-lowering agents, the total number of drugs, the number of medicines prescribed by generic name, the number of drugs from the Indian essential medicines list, and whether an injectable drug or antibiotic was prescribed. WHO core prescribing indicators were computed according to standard definitions.[3]