Abstract :
Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a world-wide public health problem associated with
various complications. CKD patients undergoing hemodialysis have associated comorbidities and
prescribing drugs rationally in these patients is a difficult task.
Objective: To evaluate the prescribing patterns of medicines in CKD patients on maintenance
hemodialysis.
Methodology: A Cross-sectional, hospital-based observational study was conducted in King Khalid
General Hospital, Al Majmaah for a period of one year. The records of patients in the given period were
examined and data pertaining to prescriptions was analyzed.
Results: A total of 41 prescriptions of patients were analyzed. The most common associated co-morbidity
was hypertension in 82.9% of the patients, followed by anemia in 73.1% of patients and secondary
hyperparathyroidism in 63.4% of the patients. 85.4% of the patients had more than one comorbidity. The
total number of drugs prescribed was 504 and the average number of prescriptions per patient was 12.3.
The percentage of drugs prescribed using generic name was 71.4 and 65.3% drugs prescribed were from
the WHO essential drugs list. Total number of Fixed dose combinations used was only 1.2%.
Conclusion: The study has generated a profile of drugs prescribed in CKD patients on maintenance
hemodialysis in a secondary care hospital in Saudi Arabia. High number of medications were used per
prescription in this study thus increasing the possibility of drug interactions and Adverse events. Further
studies with special consideration for drug-drug interactions, adverse events and adherence need to be
conducted.
Keyword :
Analysis, Chronic kidney disease, Drug prescription, Hemodialysis.