title: Medication prescribing patterns among chronic kidney disease patients in a hospital in Malaysia.
abstract: To determine the medication prescribing patterns in hospitalized patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a Malaysian hospital, we prospectively studied a cohort of 600 patients in two phases with 300 patients in each phase. The first phase was carried out from the beginning of February to the end of May 2007, and the second phase was from the beginning of March to the end of June 2008. Patients with CKD who had an estimated creatinine clearance ≤ 50 mL/min and were older than 18 years were included. A data collection form was used to collect data from the patients' medical records and chart review. All systemic medications prescribed during hospitalization were included. The patients were prescribed 5795 medications. During the first phase, the patients were prescribed 2814 medication orders of 176 different medications. The prescriptions were 2981 of 158 medications during the second phase. The mean number of medications in the first and second phases was 9.38 ± 3.63 and 9.94 ± 3.78 respectively (P-value = 0.066). The top five used medications were calcium carbonate, folic acid/vitamin B complex, metoprolol, lovastatin, and ferrous sulfate. The most commonly used medication classes were mineral supplements, vitamins, antianemic preparations, antibacterials, and beta-blocking agents. This study provides an overview of prescription practice in a cohort of hospitalized CKD patients and indicates possible areas of improvement in prescription practice.
authors.affiliation: Nephrology Unit (Ward 7), Penang General Hospital (PGH), Penang Island, Malaysia. rowa_ramahi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Rowa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Al-Ramahi
mesh_terms: D058671:Adrenergic beta-1 Receptor Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005296:Ferrous Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008148:Lovastatin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008790:Metoprolol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014803:Vitamin B Complex / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D058671:Adrenergic beta-1 Receptor Antagonists; D005296:Ferrous Compounds; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D014803:Vitamin B Complex; C020748:ferrous sulfate; D005492:Folic Acid; D008148:Lovastatin; D008790:Metoprolol; D002119:Calcium Carbonate