Prescription Patterns for Empagliflozin among Adults with Diabetes Mellitus in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Objective: To evaluate the prescribing pattern of empagliflozin with respect to other concomitant prescribed drugs in a diabetic patient.

Methods: The present research study was conducted in Dhaka from May 2021 to July 2021 at National Healthcare Network (NHN), Dhaka (Jurain, Uttara and Mirpur Branch). A total of 139 were included in this study by following a simple random procedure.

Results: According to the research criterion, 198 prescriptions were collected and 139 were assessed for the study. 78 (56.12%) were male and 72 (51.8%) belonged to the age group 30-64 years, and 67 (48.2%) were in the age group of 65-79 years. 57 (41%) had normal weight, followed by 33 (23.74%) who were overweight, and 49 (35.25%) patients were obese. Approximately 73 (52.52%) of prescriptions prescribed empagliflozin alone, whereas 76 (54.68%) of prescriptions prescribed the combination of empagliflozin and metformin. Among 202 co-prescribed anti-diabetic preparations other than empagliflozin (either monotherapy or combination therapy), 142 (70.30%) were oral hypoglycemic and 60 (29.70%) were insulin preparations. Apart from anti-diabetics, 396 medications were prescribed in this study, including anti-hypertensives (n=47;11.87%) and lipid-lowering drugs (n=43;10.86%). The number of protein pump inhibitors (PPIs) and nutritional supplements were 106 (26.77%) and 84 (21.21%) prescriptions respectively.

Conclusion: Empagliflozin is one of the most often recommended anti-diabetic medications in Bangladesh to treat diabetes with or without cardiovascular and obesity-related complications. Other drug classes are prescribed as well, with no apparent contradictions.