A Retrospective Study on Drug Utilization Evaluation and Outcomes Assessment in the Department of Nephrology of Tertiary Care Multi speciality Teaching Hospital

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the major global health problem with increasing incidence and comorbidities. These patients require life-long treatment with a wide class of drugs which can lead to more number of drug-related problems and cost-effectiveness. Time to time drug utilization study is required to minimize morbidities associated with medication errors. A retrospective, observational study conducted for the period of five months, in the multi-speciality tertiary care teaching hospital. The total number of 200 patients’ records collected from the Medical Record Department. All the data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2010 software, SPSS software (v26.0) and GraphPad Prism software (V.8.2.0). Medscape drug interaction checker (v1033.0), Stockley’s drug interaction book (12th edition), Micromedex drug interaction software (v2130), This study revealed that males (60%) were highly affected by CKD than the female patients (40%). The mean age of the total population was 48.97±14.67 years. Hypertensions followed by diabetes are the most common comorbidities and anti-hypertensives are the most commonly prescribed drugs, next to nutritional supplements. Drug-drug interactions were identified in 151 prescriptions, where 46.73 % in them were found to be moderate. There were 13 nephrotoxic drugs which found to be repeatedly administered for 253 times and 81.5% of patients were discharged with improved conditions. The prevalence of comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes complicates the treatment regimen which increases drug-drug interactions. We believe that Clinical pharmacist can play a vital role to promote rationality in drug utilization.