The Prescribing Pattern of Anti-Epileptic Drugs in a tertiary care hospital in central India

Dr. Makrand Hirve; Dr. Pritesh Goutam

Volume : VII, Issue : XII, December - 2018

The Prescribing Pattern of Anti-Epileptic Drugs in a tertiary care hospital in central India

Dr. Makrand Hirve, Dr. Pritesh Goutam

Abstract :

Aim: To study the prescribing pattern of antiepileptic drugs in a semi urban area by general practitioners

Materials and Methods: This is an observational study wherein patients suffering from epilepsy attending general practitioners in a tertiary care hospital were analyzed. Totally 100 prescriptions were analyzed. Results: 100 patients were included in the study out of which 51 were males while 49 were females. Eighty two patients were used only older/conventional AEDs. GTCS was the predominant form of seizure type presented (88%) followed by other types. A total of 280 AEDs were prescribed to a total of 100 patients. The pattern of AEDs prescribed is presented in Table 2 of 100 patients, 80 patients were prescribed only conventional / older AEDs. Only 5 patients were on newer AEDs monotherapy. Newer AEDs were used as add on-therapy in 6 patients. Monotherapy (52%) was prescribed more than the polytherapy (48%). Phenytoin was the most commonly prescribed drug as monotherapy followed by phenobarbitone. Conclusion: Our study revealed that the conventional AEDs are still most commonly used AEDs and use of newer AEDs is still low even at tertiary level. This may be because of lack of experience in using newer AEDs and cost factor as most of the population attending epilepsy clinic is from lower socioeconomic group.