Drug utilization in a hospital general medical outpatient clinic with particular reference to antihypertensive and antidiabetic drugs.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the prescribing patterns, particularly antihypertensive and antidiabetic drugs, in a hospital outpatient clinic and to evaluate the expenditure incurred.
METHODS: Prescriptions from a general medical outpatient clinic in a teaching hospital were collected for 4 weeks. Drug expenditures were calculated.
RESULTS: A total of 622 prescriptions containing 1903 items were collected. Antihypertensive and antidiabetic drugs accounted for 25.9 and 9.1% usage, respectively. Calcium channel blocking agents, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and beta-blocking agents were the most popular antihypertensive drugs used. Sulphonylureas were the most frequently prescribed antidiabetic agents. Amlodipine, doxazosin and sotalol accounted for 4.5% of all prescription items but 27.8% of the total drug expenditure.
CONCLUSION: The use of antihypertensive and antidiabetic drugs accounted for most of the drug usage in this study. Use of newer and more expensive agents has further increased drug expenditure. Monitoring drug usage and their correlations with clinical outcomes are warranted.