ANTIHYPERTENSIVE PRESCRIPTION PATTERN AND TIME TRENDS FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED UNCOMPLICATED HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Imo E. Udoh, Kedei N. Nyoyoko, Gospel L. Ekanem and Emmanuel I. Etim*

ABSTRACT

Hypertension is the most common modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), stroke and renal failure. It is the second leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Useful information can be obtained from the knowledge of existing prescription patterns in order to improve clinical practice. This study was designed to determine the prescription patterns and time trends for antihypertensive in newly diagnosed cases of uncomplicated hypertension in the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) and St Luke's Hospital Anua (SLHA) both in Uyo, and to compare these with the current clinical prescription guidelines. A retrospective study was conducted using patients case files. A total of 3,201 patients of age 20 years and above with uncomplicated hypertension cases were enrolled. Appropriate statistical test was employed; student t-test was used to compare the prescription pattern and time trends of antihypertensive medications and significant level was set at 5% (p<0.05). Prescriptions pattern for newly-diagnosed cases of uncomplicated hypertension in SLHA from January 2017 to December 2019 showed that single antihypertensive drug therapy (1022, n =2,350; 43.50%) was mostly practiced over others. Likewise prescriptions pattern for newly-diagnosed cases of uncomplicated hypertension in UUTH from January 2017 to December 2019 showed that monotherapy (309, n = 606; 50%) was mostly practiced over others. The results shows that in both hospitals, prescribers complied with the guidelines for treatment of newly diagnosed hypertension.

Keywords: Prescription, Pattern, Newly Diagnosed, Uncomplicated, Hypertensive Patients.