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Majid Ali Hingoro¹, Jawad Mumtaz Sodhar², Muhammad Atif Ata³, Samreen Ali⁴, Asim Mehmood⁵ and Rasheed Ahmed Soomro⁶

ABSTRACT

Objective: To analyze polypharmacy and prescription patterns of general practitioners in major cities of Sindh.

Study Design: Descriptive cross sectional study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Major cities (Karachi, Sukkur, Tando Muhammad Khan and Tando Adam) of Sindh from January 2021 to June 2021 for a period of six months.

Materials and Methods: An online database system was developed for simultaneous data entry by the authors from different cities of Sindh. Total 7590 prescriptions were collected within six months. Polypharmacy (PP) was defined as use of 5–8 drugs, excessive polypharmacy (EPP) use of > 8 drugs and non –polypharmacy (NP) ≤ 4 drugs concomitantly. The data was analyzed SPSS for Windows ver. 22 (Chicago, IL, USA). Data was presented as frequency and % for categorical variables. The Microsoft Excel sheet was employed for graphing. Chi – square testing was used for categorical variables. Level of significance was taken at ≤0.05.

Results: Polypharmacy and Excessive polypharmacy and Non –polypharmacy were observed in 4653 (61.3%), 1978 (26.1%) and 959 (12.6%) respectively (P=0.0001). Proton pump inhibitors were most frequently prescribed drugs 7103 (93.5%), followed by calcium and vitamin D supplements 6987 (92.1%), steroids 6705 (88.3%), multivitamin and multi-mineral pills 6619 (87.01%).

Conclusion: The present study reports the polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy are prevalent in the country and highlight the need to revise medical practice and drug dispensing policy in the country.

Key Words: Polypharmacy, Prescription, Drugs, Sindh

Citation of article: Hingoro MA, Sodhar JM, Ata MA, Ali S, Mehmood A, Soomro RA. Polypharmacy and Prescription Patterns of General Practitioners in Major Cities of Sindh. Med Forum 2022;33(1):13-16.