Antihypertensive Prescribing Pattern, Prescriber Adherence to Ish 2020 Guidelines, and Implication of Outpatient Drug Price on Blood Pressure Control at Selected Hospitals in Southern Ethiopia Publisher Pubmed



Sorato MM^{1, 2} ; Davari M³ ; Kebriaeezadeh A³ ; Sarrafzadegan N⁴ ; Shibru T⁵ Show Affiliations
Source: European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Published:2022

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the impact of drug prescribing pattern, outpatient drug price of medicines, and level of adherence to evidence-based international guidelines on blood pressure (BP) control at selected hospitals in Southern Ethiopia. Methods: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted. The data entry and analysis were done by using SPSS version 21.0. Results: A mean age of participants was 55.87 ± 11.02 years. The rate of BP control was 17.5% based on International Society of Hypertension (ISH) guidelines 2020. In about two-thirds of patients, 270 (66.5%) were taking combination therapy. Mean annual cost of drugs for hypertension was 11.39 ± 3.98 US dollar (USD). Treatment was affordable for only 91 (22.4%) of patients. There was considerable variation on prescriber’s adherence to evidence-based guidelines. Body mass index (BMI) of 18–24.9 kg/m2, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.63 (95% confidence interval (C.I), 1.169–11.251, p = 0.026), physically activity, AOR = 12.69 (95% C.I, 1.424–113.17, p = 0.023), presence of no comorbidity, AOR = 12.82 (95% C.I, 4.128–39.816, p = 0.000), and taking affordable antihypertensive regimen, AOR = 3.493 (95% C.I, 1.4242–9.826, p = 0.018), were positively associated BP control. Conclusion: The level of BP control, affordability of drugs for the management of hypertension and related comorbidities, and the prescriber’s adherence to evidence-based guidelines were inadequate. Therefore, addressing factors associated with good BP control including affordability and clinician adherence to evidence-based guidelines by responsible stakeholders could improve BP control and reduce associated complications. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.