Trends in drug usage among elderly with cardiovascular diseases

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a common health problem in the world and a major cause of premature morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Various combinations of drugs are used for the management of CVD. Hence, the present study was conducted to analyze the drug usage trends in elderly with CVDs. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted for a period of 6 months in an outpatient department at a tertiary care teaching hospital. The medical records of elderly (age ?60 years) patients with CVDs were reviewed. Drug prescribed mainly for hypertension, ischemic heart disease (IHD), congestive cardiac failure (CCF) were included along with drugs used for other co-morbidities. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Of 234 elderly patients, 124 (53%) were males and 110 (47%) were females. Hypertension was found in 208 (88.9%) patients, 66 (28.2%) had IHD and 4 (1.7%) had CCF. Drugs used for CVDs were beta blockers (BB) (30.77%), calcium channel blockers (CCB) (39.32%), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) (24.36%), angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) (20.94%) and diuretics (16.67%). Nitrates were prescribed for 66 (28.20%) patients and antiplatelet agents such as aspirin and clopidogrel were prescribed in 80 (34.19%) patients. Diabetes mellitus was found in 114 (48.7%) patients, 26 (11.1%) had bronchial asthma, followed by hyperlipidemia (3.8%), arthritis (3.8%), cerebrovascular accident (1.7%), and peripheral neuropathy, retinopathy and hypothyroidism was noted in 2 (0.9%) patients each. Conclusion: Among the antihypertensive groups CCBs were the most commonly used followed by BB, ARBs and ACEIs. Among these antihypertensive agents amlodipine, losartan, atenolol and enalapril were most commonly used. Commonly used antidiabetic agents were metformin and glimepiride.