Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and prescription patterns in a randomly selected population in Bangladesh

Abstract

The basis for assessment of cardiovascular disease management is reliable on the demographic study of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and drug usage in a population. The aim of this study was not only to observe the prevalence of CVD in a population and the trend of drugs prescribed but to also identify the most prominent CVDs, the reasons behind their occurrence, types of treatment for all kinds of CVDs reported and the reason for choosing the particular drug singly or in a combination with other therapeutic classes. This descriptive study was carried out for a period of three months from July 2016 to the end of September 2016 among 853 patients, of which 427 patients visited National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) while the other 426 visited the National Heart Foundation Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The patients were questioned with a self-developed questionnaire and their prescriptions were analysed to comprehend the trends of prescribed medicines and other diagnosis results. Out of 853 patients, the male and female patients were distributed in the ratio 5.8:4.2 with most patients coming from urban areas and suffering from lipid level disorder (more than 48%). The other CVDs reported were hypertension (30%), heart failure (28.5%), myocardial infarction (20.9%), ischemic heart disease (19.9%), stroke (17.1%) and angina (11%). Among all the combinations of drugs advised, the antianginal, ACE inhibitor and coronary vasodilator combination had a prevalence of 27.5% which was the maximum while the second most prescribed combination was the beta blocker and antihyperlipidemic drug (21.3%). This particular study allowed a detailed and extensive analysis of the CVDs, different methods of diagnosis and preferred treatment choice by the physicians and will also further help to determine and evaluate the usage of cardiovascular drugs utilisation in Bangladesh to successfully manage CVDs in the future. Copyright © 2017 Oriental Scientific Publishing Company. all rights reserved.