A STUDY ON DRUG UTILIZATION PATTERN OF ANALGESICS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Pain represents a complex experience which can be approached by various medicines. Opioid and non-opioid analgesics are the most common drugs used to manage different types of pain. Due to population ageing, there is an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases, and in particular musculoskeletal diseases. These trends are associated with an increased demand for prescription analgesics and an increased risk of adverse reactions, which constitute a challenge especially for general practitioners.

The main objective is to evaluate the use of analgesics in a multi-specialty teaching hospital. The secondary goal is to determine the level of analgesic use in the hospital, to prevent inappropriate analgesic use.

A prospective observational study was done by analyzing the case records of patients prescribed with analgesics mainly in the departments of General Medicine, Neurosurgery, Orthopedic and Nephrology from Suraksha Hospitals, located in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The data collection study was conducted between October 2020 to March 2021. A study was done to find out the drug use rating of analgesics, which will allow us to find the rational use of analgesics in the given population.

The total number of 1115 patients was analyzed. The study results show that analgesics were most commonly prescribed in the age group of 40-49. Naproxen is the most commonly prescribed analgesic drug followed by Aspirin, paracetamol, diclofenac and aceclofenac. Commonly prescribed FDCs (fixed dose drug combinations) are flupiritine + paracetamol and diclofenac + metaxalone. Anti-depressant drug like paroxetine and anticonvulsant drug like gabapentin are commonly prescribed for neuropathic pain mainly in the Neurosurgery department. More severe pain is seen in spondylolisthesis followed by osteoarthritis, nerve damage (neuropathy), multiple fractures due to road traffic accident, collar bone ache etc.

Drug use issues are common and have vital clinical and economic implications. The support and involvement of medical staff is essential to the success of a DUE (drug utilization evaluation) program.

KEYWORDS: Drug utilization, analgesics, pain, prescribing pattern.