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| RESEARCH ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 52
| Issue : 4 | Page : 283-289 |
Prescription pattern of antiepileptic drugs in a tertiary care center of India
Rupa Joshi1, Manjari Tripathi2, Pooja Gupta1, Sheffali Gulati3, Yogendra Kumar Gupta1
1 Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
2 Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
3 Department of Paediatrics, Child Neurology Division, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Yogendra Kumar Gupta
Principal Advisor Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), DBT, GOI, Faridabad - 121 001, Haryana
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijp.IJP_507_17
OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to determine the pattern of prescription of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in a cohort of patients with epilepsy (PWE) attending a tertiary care center of North India.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Demographic variables including age, gender, age at onset, type and frequency of seizures, and prescription of all AEDs (dose and duration) were noted. Descriptive analysis of the use of AEDs was done, and their different combinations were studied.
RESULTS: A total of 1187 prescriptions were evaluated. Demography showed 65.7% of males; mean age of 21.9 years (range: 2–77 years), generalized seizures (53%), and focal seizures (47%). Only 21.8% of the patients were seizure free with no seizure in 1 year of treatment. The five most frequently prescribed AEDs out of 12 AEDs were sodium valproate (VPA) (49.6%), clobazam (CLB) (39.3%), levetiracetam (LEV) (28.4%), carbamazepine (CBZ) (27.3%), and phenytoin (PHT) (26.5%). Monotherapy was effective in 36.6% of the patients. Sodium VPA (39.4%), PHT (25.6%), and CBZ (20.1%) were commonly used as monotherapy. Polytherapy was required in 63.4% of the patients, and most commonly prescribed combinations were PHT + CLB (n = 53), sodium VPA + CLB (n = 62), CBZ + CLB (n = 45), PHT + sodium VPA + CLB (n = 28), and CBZ + sodium VPA + CLB (n = 31).
CONCLUSIONS: Polytherapy is a very common practice in our tertiary care center. Sodium VPA, a highly prescribed AED, results in good control of generalized seizures, whereas focal seizures are well controlled by CBZ alone as well as in combination. The present study highlights the commonly prescribed combinations of AEDs resulting in control of different types of seizures.
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