Status of drug use in hypertensive patients with diabetes at the outpatient clinic of Hai Phong Medical University Hospital in 2022

Abstract

A cross - sectional descriptive study of 233 patients with hypertension and diabetes undergoing outpatient treatment at Hai Phong Medical University Hospital in 2022 aimed to describe the patient’s drug use status. The results showed that the average number of drugs in prescription was 3.2 ± 0.8 drugs. The number of patients using many drugs (≥ 5 types) including prescription and nonprescription drugs accounted for 24.5%. Patients mainly bought drugs according to the doctor’s prescription (71.7%) and 28.3% buying more drugs themselves. The use of
multiple drugs of patients was related to age group (OR: 2.7; 95%CI: 1.1 - 9.4; p = 0.037), number of comorbidities (OR: 3.6; 95%CI: 1.4 - 11.1; p = 0.003) and drug buying behavior (OR: 2.5; 95% CI: 12 - 4.9; p = 0.003). From the research results above, hospitals and medical staff need to strengthen propaganda about the harmful effects of self-medication, and at the same time participate in counseling and encouraging patients to take the correct and sufficient medicine according to the prescribed prescription.