Evaluation and Study of Various Combinations of Antihypertensive Medications Commonly Prescribed for Outpatient and In-Patient Management of Hypertension in Patients at Tertiary Care Hospital

Vequar Ahmed | Vinod Patil ^[2] | Pranati Kothule | Mohammed Aabid

Abstract: The purpose of the descriptive drug utilization study was to determine the prescribing patterns of antihypertensive drugs among hypertensive patients attending a tertiary care hospital. The study was conducted over a period of 6 months and analyzed 297 randomly selected prescriptions. The data collected included patient socio-demographic characteristics and the types of antihypertensive drugs prescribed. The results showed that ACE inhibitors and Calcium Channel Blockers were the most commonly prescribed drugs (33.8% and 30.7% respectively) followed by beta-blockers, Angiotensin Receptor Blockers, and diuretics. 55.29% of patients received combination therapy, with the most frequent combination consisting of CCBs and ACE inhibitors. An additional observational and cross-sectional study was carried out over a 1-year period to assess the adherence to joint national committee (JNC-8) hypertension treatment recommendations. The study analyzed 500 prescriptions prescribed for the diagnosis of hypertension. The results showed that 59.8% of the patients were male and 40.2% were female. The JNC 7 guidelines and South African hypertension guidelines were simplified and reduced to four categories for BP measurement. The guidelines emphasized that BP should be recorded with an approved device after the patient has been seated for at least 5 minutes. The study highlights the importance of patient adherence in the successful treatment and outcome of chronic diseases such as hypertension. The findings also show that aggressive blood pressure control is essential to reducing morbidity and mortality. The adherence to JNC-8 treatment recommendations among hypertensive patients attending a tertiary care hospital is a critical aspect of the effective treatment of hypertension.

Keywords: Antihypertensive, Pharmacoepidemiology, Antihypertensive drug utilization, Prescription pattern study

Edition: Volume 12 Issue 2, February 2023,

Pages: 1282 - 1288