Prescription audit of antidiabetic medicines: a comparison between government and private setup

The objectives of this study are to evaluate changes in prescribing trends of antidiabetic medicines in government setup over a period of 15 years and to observe difference in prescribing patterns in government and private setup. This was a prospective, comparative, prescription survey-based study carried out in tertiary care, government teaching hospital and private diabetology clinic. Prescriptions of 202 diabetic patients from government hospital and 106 from private clinic were analyzed after obtaining ethical clearance. Information recorded were medicines prescribed, strength, frequency/route of administration, and use of generic/brand name. Similar data was available from a study carried out in same institution in 1995. Data obtained from government hospital was compared to that from private clinic and to similar data obtained from same government hospital 15 years back. Number of medicines per prescription increased significantly in current study. There was increase in prescription of antihypertensives. Prescription of insulin reduced with increase in prescription of oral antidiabetics. Mentioning dosage form and frequency of administration increased in current study. Only limited drugs were prescribed in government clinic, while varieties of drugs including fixed-dose combinations were prescribed in private clinic. Positive change in some aspects of prescribing patterns was reported in treatment of diabetes over last 15 years in government setup. Patient load and cost of therapy were two important factors that affected medicines prescription in government setup. Discrepancies in prescribing practices were observed in both which can be corrected by administering suitable interventions directed at improving the lacunae observed.