Assessment of Prescription Pattern Prescribed to Patients Affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross Sectional Health Survey Conducted in Different Hospitals of Bangladesh

Abstract

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects the joints with variable degrees of severity depending on the patient. As it is a chronic disease and patients have to go through medication for a long period of time, choosing the proper drug is very crucial to avoid irrational use of drug. The present study was designed to evaluate the usual prescription pattern that are prescribed by the physicians, and unveiling the scenario of patient care treating for arthritis. Materials and Methods: The current survey-based research study was conducted in seven divisional areas of Bangladesh. Data was collected for Five months periods from September 2020 to January 2021. This cross-sectional study was carried out at a variety of private and governmental hospitals. The study included 300 individuals who had been on antirheumatic medicines for at least six months. Patient demographic details, prescribed drugs, adverse drug reactions, and use of complementary and substitute medicine were used to analyze the pattern of drug use. Results and Discussions: The results of the study found that most of the patients are from 40 to 60 years of age. The number of drug prescribed ranges from 3 to 8, with an average of 6.1 medicines per prescription. The most used Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were tofacitinib, glucocorticosteroids were prednisolone and NSAIDs were Aceclofenac group. None of these drugs were prescribed as generic names, rather proprietary names were used. Conclusion: Most of the patients are treated with more than one drug to fight against arthritis. So the incidence of drug interaction should be observed carefully. Moreover, both the prescriber and patient should be aware of ensuring rationale use of drug.