Kumutha Theivasigamani , Senthilkumar Palaniappan

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the utilization of antidiabetic agents among patients with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus in primary care clinics of a South Indian rural province of Erode district, Tamilnadu, India. The study was conducted for a period of one year using a structured validated questionnaire. There was a total of 487 diabetic patients residing in the rural area of a south Indian state were included in this drug utilization evaluation.

Majority of the diabetic patients in this study were female (n= 279; 57.28%), married (n=463; 95%), unemployed (n=272; 55.85%), and illiterate (n=180; 36.96%), between the age of 51-60 years (175; 35.93%), and has past medical history of T2DM (n=328; 67.35%). All of them were diagnosed with T2DM (n=487; 100%). The majority of the diabetes patients were receiving oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) (n=433; 88.91%), among these, 125 (25.66%) were treated with a single anti-diabetic agent as monotherapy, 208 (42.71%) were treated with two-drug regimens, and 136 (27.92%) were treated with three-drug regimens. There was an increasing trend of diabetes among the rural population. It was mainly due to their inappropriate lifestyle habits and lack of awareness of diabetes and its complications among the poor general population of this district. Polypharmacy was commonly seen among diabetes patients and the majority were receiving more than 2 antidiabetic medications. A well-structured health interventional program is warranted to reduce the increasing trend of diabetes and to reduce negative health outcomes.