title: A study of prescribed H1-antihistamine preparations over a period of 12 months in community pharmacy.
abstract: A survey on the prescribing pattern of H1-antihistamine preparations was carried out in four socio-economic areas in Liverpool: the City Centre, an Affluent Area, a Poor area and a Council Estate. The purpose of this study was to find out which H1-antihistamines were prescribed from the wide range available; to discover if there was a trend in the use of these agents over a 12-month period and to suggest possible explanations for these findings. The majority of H1-antihistamine preparations were prescribed in the Affluent Area followed by the City Centre, Poor Area and the Council Estate. In all four areas, over 7.0% of all total items dispensed in a year contained H1-antihistamine drugs, and the lowest use (3.7-9.2%) fell in the summer months while the highest use was in January (8.2-14.1% of items containing H1-antihistamine dispensed per month). Thus the general trend in the use of these drugs may not follow the trend of the hay fever season and it is probably true that H1-antihistamines were more frequently prescribed for treatment of other conditions (common cough and cold) than rhinitis alone. The most widely prescribed classes of H1-antihistamines were alkylamines and ethanolamines, followed by the phenothiazines and ethylenediamines while the piperazines were not prescribed. Triprolidine, diphenhydramine, promethazine and brompheniramine were the top four most widely prescribed drugs.
mesh_terms: D004304:Dosage Forms; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000639:trends; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D012923:Social Class; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D004304:Dosage Forms; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists