Prescribing Patterns of Anticonvulsant Drugs in Epilepsy in a Tertiary care Hospital: An Observational Prospective Study

Abstract

There is a testimonial of various patterns of drug prescription of anticonvulsant drugs in India. The latest upcoming drugs are extensively available at present and the way of these newer drugs are prescribed is quite interesting to see. Complications in antiepileptic therapy such as the use of poly-therapy, adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, lack of medication adherence and so on, can be point out and cleared up by clinical pharmacist. On considering all these points, this study was commenced with the title: A study on prescribing patterns of anticonvulsant drugs in epilepsy in a tertiary care hospital. Prospective observational study of 6 months duration was carried out. Patients prescribed with anti-epileptic drugs in General Medicine and Neurology out-clinic department were selected according to inclusion criteria. Data were collected in the pre-prepared data collection form after obtaining the patient consent and verified the patient case sheets/ prescriptions. Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) was utilized to assess the medication adherence at baseline. Microsoft excel was used to summarize the analysis of data. Data were measured in percentage and frequency using descriptive statistics. For testing significant associations, Chi-square test was performed, where P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Usage of newer antiepileptic drugs was very less, with high evidence of polytherapy in the prescriptions for treating epilepsy. Clobazam was the most commonly prescribed drug. Medication adherence among these patients was less.