@article{Sridhar_Kavitha_Padma_2021, title={Drug Prescription Patterns in Osteoarthritis Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital: Government General Hospital, Suryapet}, volume={4}, url={https://ijhcr.com/index.php/ijhcr/article/view/1167}, abstractNote={<p>Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of chronic pain and lower extremity disability among the elderly due to its predilection for lower extremity joints such as the knee and hip. NSAIDs are often commonly used in the symptomatic relief of osteoarthritis, but Paracetamol is the initial medication of choice. However, there is also a need for effective and reliable alternative therapies that can include both symptomatic relief and the benefits of disease alteration in OA. The goal was to research drug prescribing trends in a tertiary care hospital in India in patients with osteoarthritis.Methods: A cross-sectional, prospective study was performed in a tertiary care teaching hospital on newly diagnosed as well as old treated patients with osteoarthritis from the orthopedic outpatient department. After screening for inclusion and exclusion factors, a total of 192 patients were admitted. Data was recorded in a specially developed proforma, which provided details on the patient demographic profile and the prescription medication pattern.Results: Of the 192 patients affected by osteoarthritis, women (58.33 percent) were affected more often than men (41.64 percent). The most frequently affected was the OA knee (76.04 percent), unilateral or bilateral, followed by the hip joint, spine, and other joints. In 72.92 percent of patients, NSAIDs were more commonly used than paracetamol, which was used only in 38.54 percent of patients and only in conjunction with NSAIDs and opioids. In 53.64 percent of patients, various other medications were mostly used as adjunct treatments that included gastroprotective agents, calcium in 59.37 percent of patients, vitamin D3 supplements in 52.60 percent of patients, and symptomatic slow-acting OA (SYSADOA) drugs that included diacerein and glucosamine sulfate in 13.02 percent of patients as a mixture.Conclusion: Our analysis found that among female patients, osteoarthritis knee was the most common. Paracetamol and SYSADOA are recommended, and the most commonly used OA medications are NSAIDs. To rationalize substance use and increase awareness among prescribing physicians, national drug policies are needed.</p>}, number={6}, journal={International Journal of Health and Clinical Research}, author={Sridhar, I. and Kavitha, M. and Padma, Polagani}, year={2021}, month={Apr.}, pages={1–4} }