An audit of the use of antirheumatic drugs in a north Indian referral hospital.

OBJECTIVE

This study was conducted with the aim of auditing the pattern of use of antirheumatic drugs in a tertiary care hospital in Northern India.

METHODS

The study was carried out in 1000 patients recruited sequentially from the clinic for a period of 1 year (January to December 1999). Patient data such as age, sex, income, family size, diagnosis, duration of illness, drugs prescribed/duration, adverse drug reaction were noted and used to calculate core drug use indicators and pattern of drug use.

RESULTS

The pattern of drug use was in accordance with the standard practices followed internationally. In rheumatoid arthritis the most common prescriptions were for non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) alone, followed by the combination of NSAIDs, disease modifying agents (DMARDs) and steroids. Of the NSAIDs diclofenac was the most frequently prescribed drug, while chloroquine was the most commonly used DMARD. The most commonly seen adverse drug reactions were gastritis, Cushings syndrome and decreased visual acuity.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this study has demonstrated that in this clinic, the pattern of use of antirheumatic drugs follows standard guidelines.