A Study on Pharmacological Agents used among Patients with Osteoporosis

Objectives: The study was conducted to analyse the prescription pattern of the drugs used to treat osteoporosis among patients in the orthopaedics department of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted at the department of orthopaedics in a tertiary care teaching hospital for a period of eight months. A total of 180 patients were enrolled after obtaining the ethical committee approval. The details on the age, gender, symptoms of the disease, and prescribed drugs were collected and analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: Out of 180 enrolled patients, females (96.7%) outnumbered the males (3.3%). The majority of patients (53.8%) were found between 56–75 years of age. Most common clinical symptom was back pain (71.67 %), followed by pain in hip joints (11.67%). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (26.67%) were widely prescribed, followed by calcium and Vitamin combination (23.93%), and antacids (20.27%). Conclusion: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, calcium and Vitamin preparations and antacids were the commonly prescribed drugs among the study population. Studies conducted on prescription patterns assist an evaluation of drug utilization and facilitates an understanding of the on-going trends in prescribing practice. Key words: Osteoporosis, Calcium, Vitamins, Back pain, NSAIDs.