Prescribing pattern of antihypertensive drugs in diabetic patients of Southern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Background. Hypertension is extremely prevalent in patients with diabetes. Limited data exist on utilization patterns of antihypertensive in this population are consistent with evidence-based practice guidelines. Objective. To evaluate utilization patterns of antihypertensive agents among diabetic patients with hypertension. Design. Retrospective descriptive cross sectional. Patients/Participants. 149 patients with diabetes and hypertension from outpatient department at Family Medicine Hospital, Ahaderfieda. Khamis Mushait, K.S.A. Results. Over 43% of patients were receiving calcium channel blockers (CCB), 36.2 % of received angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), followed by angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) (34.9%), diuretics (34.2%) and beta-blockers (16.2%). Patients on monotherapy were mostly receiving CCB (34.3%) and ACEI (29.9%). The majority (55.03%) of treated patients were on multidrug regimens. In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), a diuretic with ACEI (25%) and calcium channel blocker with angiotensin receptor blocker (25%) was most commonly prescribed. Conclusions. Patterns of antihypertensive therapy were generally consistent with international guidelines. Areas of improvement include increasing ACEI/ARB and diuretic use, decreasing the number of untreated patients, and increasing the proportion of patients with controlled BP in this population.