Prescribing Trends of Amlodipine in Outpatient Setting
Nehad J. Ahmed *
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aim: This study aims to illustrate the Prescribing Trends of Amlodipine in Outpatient Setting in Al-Kharj city.
Methodology: This is a retrospective study that was conducted in a public hospital in Alkharj city. The outpatient prescriptions were reviewed to evaluate the prescription patterns of Amlodipine. The data were collected and analyzed using Excel software, the descriptive data were represented by frequencies and percentages.
Results: The majority of amlodipine prescriptions were for patients more than 40 years old. The most prescribed departments were internal medicine followed by emergency and cardiology department. Amlodipine was mainly prescribed by resident physicians.
Conclusion: Amlodipine is one of the most prescribed antihypertensive drugs. It is prescribed mainly by residents, many of them without sufficient experiences. This may lead to inappropriate prescribing patterns, as a result more efforts needed to increase the knowledge of prescribers regarding the appropriate use of cardiovascular medicines including amlodipine.
Keywords: Prescribing trends, prescribing patterns, amlodipine, outpatient.