Assessment of Prescribing Pattern for Hypertension and Comparison with JNC-8 Guidelines-Proposed Intervention by Clinical Pharmacist

Background: Hypertension is a common disorder that if not effectively treated results in greatly increased probability of coronary thrombosis, strokes, and renal failures. It is estimated that the prevalence of hypertension in India is about 25% among urban adults and 10% in the rural areas. The lifetime risk of developing hypertension is estimated to be 90%.1 To assess prescribing pattern in hypertensive patients and assessing the rationality in regards to JNC-8 Guidelines in a tertiary care hospital. Methodology: It was a prospective, observational study conducted for 6 months with of 75 hypertensive prescriptions with diabetes mellitus and/ or chronic kidney disease who get admitted in the hospital were screened for the study. Result: In a total of 75 prescriptions, 14 (18.7%) prescriptions were found in the age group of less than 50 years, in which 10 (13.3%) were males and 4 (5.4%) were females and 36 (48%) prescriptions were comes under the age group between 51–65 years, in which 26 (34.7%) were males and 10 (13.3%) were females. Also 25 (33.3%) prescriptions were comes under the age group of above 65 years, in which 20 (26.7%) were males and 5 (6.7%) were females. Among mono therapy 22 (47.8%) prescriptions had diuretics as antihypertensive drug followed by CCB 11 (24%), ARBs 7 (15.1%), β blockers 3 (6.5%), ACEIs 1 (2.2%), α blockers 1 (2.2%) and α+β blockers 1 (2.2%). When compared with JNC 8 Guidelines it was observed that 28% of prescriptions were rational and 56% of prescriptions were irrational. Regarding the perception of physicians towards JNC 8 guidelines it was found that majority were not following JNC 8 guidelines.