ABSTRACT
Background: Chronopharmacology is the 搒cience dealing with the optimization of drug effects and minimization of adverse effects by timing the medications in relation to the biological rhythm.� In patients with hypertension, it is important to maintain a steady blood pressure throughout the day, which necessitates to have knowledge of chronopharmacology and drugs following it. Better understanding of the circadian rhythm and its application for drug administration serves productive utilization of drug. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to study the chronopharmacological relevance to the time of drug administration in general medicine inpatients at Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi. Materials and Methods: It is a prospective, non-interventional, observational study which was conducted on patients admitted in General Medicine wards at GIMS, Kalaburagi. A special pro forma was designed, and data were obtained from medical case records of patients suffering from various disorders admitted in the wards of general medicine. Demographic data, disease data, data pertaining to drug therapy, data pertaining to other comorbid illness, and adverse effects of drugs, if any, were collected. Descriptive statistics and other suitable statistical test were applied for analyzing the data. Results: A total of 110 patients who were on antihypertensive drugs and who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study were included in the study. The average age of both male and female was found to be between 45 and 68 years. Among 110 patients, 72 (65.45%) were male and 38 (34.54%) were female. In the current study, a total of 124 wide variety of antihypertensive drugs were recorded. The study of ideal time of administration of all antihypertensive drugs showed that, most of the prescription was according to chronopharmacological relevance. Conclusion: Updating the knowledge of chronopharmacology and its application in clinical practice will provide better health care. The current study highlights the importance of timing of administration of antihypertensive drugs in human health care.
ABSTRACT
Background: Use of antibiotics in special population like children is not same as adult. Pediatric age group will have difference in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, efficacy, and safety of drugs. In children, the maturity of major organs will be in developing stage which would affect the absorption, metabolism, distribution, and excretion of drugs. Hence, irrational prescription of drugs may lead to many adverse effects ranging from mild to severe. In developing countries like India, we do not have much unbiased information on the currently used drugs. Hence, the current study focused on antibiotic use among pediatric population using data from a tertiary care teaching hospital. Aim and Objectives: The objectives of the study were as follows: (i) To observe antibiotic prescription trends in in-patients of pediatric ward and (ii) to analyze rationality of antibiotic prescription. Materials and Methods: It is a prospective observational study which was conducted over a period of 1 year. Institutional Ethics Committee approval was taken before conducting the study. The data of inpatients of pediatric ward were collected in a separate well-designed preform. Inpatients with age group of 0–14 years were included in the study. Results: Out of 1050 patients, 471 were below the age group of 1 year, 220 patients were between 1 and 5 years, and 359 patients were above the age of 5 years. The percentage of patients with antibiotic prescribed was 92.1%. Respiratory tract infections were predominantly seen among children, especially bronchopneumonia was seen in 6.6% of the patients. Among the antibiotics, amikacin (483) was most commonly prescribed followed by cefotaxime (414) and ceftriaxone (301). Conclusion: In our study, we have found that antimicrobials were most commonly used drugs in the form of injectable. To prevent development of antimicrobial resistance, there is necessary of antibiotic policy in each and every hospitals of India.