CHARACTERIZATION OF PRESCRIBING PATTERN IN THE MANAGEMENT OF OSTEOARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA), a progressive disorder characterized by destruction of articular cartilage with synovial changes. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a systemic inflammatory and autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation, autoantibody production and joint space narrowing. Drugs like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), symptomatic slow acting drugs (SYSADOA) disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARDs), steroids etc are using widely in OA and RA therapy. A prescribing pattern study analyzes the trend of prescribing drugs, its rationality and provides feedback to the prescribers. We aimed to study the prescription patterns in OA and RA therapy through a prospective observational analysis. Methodology: We studied 100 outpatients for six months between June 2017 - December 2017. We reviewed prescriptions and analysed the patterns. Results: Out of 100 patients, 35% were with OA and 65% were RA. 25% are males and 75% are females. OA and RA were more prevalent in the age groups of 51-60 years (45.7%) and 41-50 years (35.4%) respectively. Out of 239 prescribed drugs, Aceclofenac (26.31%) and Naproxen (26.31%) were the first choice of drugs in OA patients and Methotrexate (25.4%) for RA. Of the patient total, 14.3% were treated in monotherapy and 85.7% received two or more drugs. Conclusion: We found combinational therapy (SYSADOA+NSAIDs & DMARDs) was more often than monotherapy in OA and RA. We also found the prescribed drugs are rational and are in essential drug list.