A study of chronopharmacological relevance of antihypertensive drugs prescription

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.