To investigate the usage patterns of antidiabetic and antihypertensive drugs and to identify any discordance between recommended management guidelines and clinical practice in two study locations.
DESIGN:
Prescription survey.
SETTING:
A government-operated general outpatient clinic (GOPC) and a medical/geriatric specialist clinic (SC) affiliated with a regional hospital in the same district.
PATIENTS:
Patients presenting with a prescription during the study period at the respective pharmacy were classified as having diabetes if at least one antidiabetic agent was prescribed and as having hypertension if a cardiovascular drug was prescribed in a hypotensive dosage.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
The pattern of use of antidiabetic and antihypertensive drugs.
RESULTS:
One thousand one hundred forty-four consecutive prescriptions were collected in the GOPC, and 1523 in the SC. Of these, 9.4% (n = 107) of patients were classified as having diabetes in the GOPC and 20.4% (n = 310) in the SC (ρ > 0.001). Most patients with diabetes were taking oral hypoglycemic agents (98.1% in GOPC vs. 84.5% in SC). Glibenclamide was the sulfonylurea used most often as monotherapy in both settings (50.5% in GOPC vs. 40.6% in SC). The combined use of a sulfonylurea with metformin was common in both settings (22.4% in GOPC vs. 28.4% in SC). Metformin monotherapy (1.9% in GOPC vs. 2.6% in
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