Utilization pattern of anti-diabetic drugs in type 2 diabetes mellitus in tertiary care hospital

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major public-health related problem. The increase in prevalence rates has led to an increase in the economic burden, worldwide. To manage the disease in a better way, Drug utilization research can be used as a strategy to justify the drug therapy. Aims: To study the drug prescribing pattern of anti-diabetic drugs in newly diagnosed type 2 DM patients. Materials and methods: A retrospective observational study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital. As per the study criteria, data was collected from medical records department (MRD) registry using ICD code E 11.9.Data was analysed using SPSS 20.0 and the DDD per 100 bed-days was calculated. Results: A total of 662 patients were newly diagnosed with type 2 DM. The mean age of study population was 52.5 ± 12.5 years and 427(64.5%) patients were male. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity observed in 189 (28.5%) patients. Among the anti-diabetic drugs, the utilization of insulin (0.088 DDDs per 100 bed-days in 2013 and 0.16 DDDs per 100 bed-days in 2014) was highest and among the oral anti-diabetic drugs the utilization pattern of metformin (0.058 DDDs per 100 bed-days in 2013 and 0.071 DDDs per 100 bed-days in 2014) was the highest in both 2013 and 2014. Conclusion: Biguanides (metformin) was highly prescribed anti -diabetic drug in both single and combination drug therapies. This study shows that the treatment pattern of type 2 DM patients is in accordance to the NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) guidelines.