The patterns of antihypertensive drug prescription by cardiologists in Kerman province of Iran, 2006.
OBJECTIVE
This study was performed to evaluate the antihypertensive prescribing pattern by cardiologists in outpatients attending private clinics in Kerman province, Iran during 1 year period, 2006.


METHODS
Using random sampling method, 1102 prescriptions issued by cardiologists were investigated. The prescriptions of outpatients which contain at least one antihypertensive medication were separated for further analysis. Using World Health Organization (WHO) standard drug indicators, we evaluate the quality and quantity of prescriptions. The indices were compared between different sex groups by SPSS 11.5 software.


RESULTS
About 39% of the patients were male. The average age of the individuals was 57.3 +/- 13. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 2.84 +/- 0.7, but the average of antihypertensive drugs per prescription was 1.4 +/- 0.3, similarly in both sexes. The most prescribed drug class was beta-blockers (46.2%) followed by calcium channel blockers (CCBs) (19.2%), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (13.7%), diuretics (10.3%), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) (9.2%) and other antihypertensive agents (1.5%). Most of the hypertensive patients (69.6%) were treated with a single drug while 31.4% of the patients received more than one drug. There was not a significant gender difference between the types of drug class used. Statins and acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) were prescribed as cardiovascular disease preventive drugs in 10.2 and 38% of hypertensive patients, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The mean numbers of drugs per prescription by cardiologists in Kerman province of Iran were not in agreement with WHO standard drug use indicators. Lower using rate of diuretics, statins and ASA need a comprehensive reassessment of the medical management of hypertensive patients.
Sepehri
Gholamreza
G
Physiology Research Center, Neuroscience Research Center, University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. gsepehri@yahoo.com
Talebizadeh
Nooshin
N
Mirzazadeh
Ali
A
Mohsenbeigi
Mottahareh
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002309:Cardiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D012737:Sex Factors; D014944:World Health Organization
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D001241:Aspirin