European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Hypertension is a chronic illness associated with high morbidity and mortality. Once hypertension is diagnosed, starting antihypertensive therapy on a long-term basis along with regular follow up is important. Drug utilization research also provides insight into the efficiency of drug use, i.e. whether a certain drug therapy provides value for money and the results of such research can be used to help to set priorities for the rational allocation of health care budgets. The main objective of the study is to assess the utilization pattern of antihypertensive in a tertiary care hospital. Materials and methods: This prospective, cross‑sectional observational study was conducted in the Department of Pharmacology, Dr. VRK Women's Medical College, Aziznagar, Moinabad. Before initiation of the study, the approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee was obtained. A predesigned pretested schedule was employed to collect the data. The schedule contained information pertaining to basic demographic variables, comorbid conditions, and a format to assess the antihypertensive drugs prescribed. Patients coming to the medicine outpatient department were screened over a 4‑month period. Among all the prescriptions that were screened, prescriptions that had antihypertensive medication as a component were noted along with the hospital number. Results: A Total of 90 patients with history of hypertension were included. In the present study majority of patients i.e., 55.6% (50/90) were among 51-60 years, followed by 24.4% (22/90) patients among 41-50 years, 11.1% (10/90) were 61-70 years.5.6% among 30-40 years, 2.2% were among 71-80 years, least were more than 81 years i.e., 1.1%. The patients were categorized depending on the stages of the hypertension- 10 /90 (11.1%) patients belonged to prehypertension stage, 60/90 patients (66.7%) belonged to stage 1 hypertension and 20/90 (22.2%) patients belonged to stage 2 hypertension. Conclusion: In this study usage of anti-hypertensive drugs were prescribed rationally in tertiary care hospital. The study emphasizes that need for effective continuing medical education and also preventive measures in hypertensive individuals