Study of Drug Utilization, Cost-Effectiveness and Outcome of Antiepileptics Used in Paediatric Ward of Tertiary Care Hospital in Tamil Nadu, India

Author(s)

Sandeep, A., Surya, C. D., Bhanu, C. T., Saravanan, S., Saravana, K. R. T.

Author's Affiliation

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the utilisation pattern, cost-effectiveness and seizure outcome of newer and older antiepileptic drugs in paediatric clinical practice in a Indian hospital setting (Rajah Muthiah Medical College & Hospital (RMMCH), Annamalai Nagar-608 002, Tamilnadu). Over a six-month period, all paediatric epilepsy patients from RMMCH, who were diagnosed according to the classification of the International League against Epilepsy, were followed up prospectively, and the patient’s information was gathered with the help of a validated data collection form. An average of 1.30 antiepileptic drugs per patient was prescribed, with 59.09 % of them on monotherapy and 40.90 % on polytherapy. Phenytoin (39.65%) was the most commonly used AED as monotherapy, followed by carbamazepine (27.59%). Valproic acid (22.41%) and lamotrigine (10.34%), the only new AED as monotherapy, were used in this study. Benzodiazepines were used as adjuvant therapy. The most common BZD therapy was clobazam (64.58%) followed by midazolam (35.42%). A significant difference was observed between AED alone and AED+BZD (p =0.013) in terms of seizure control, which suggests that the addition of BZDs to the AED therapy did improve the seizure profile of the patients in the present study. Similarly, a significant difference was observed between Older AED’s and older & newer combination (p =0.048) in terms of seizure control. Old AED’s were more cost – effective than New AED’s for treatment of epilepsy in paediatric patients, and the INCREMENTAL COST EFFECTIVE RATIO (ICER) OF NEW AED’s TO OLD AED’s was found to be Rs.73.33/APCCS (additional patient classified as complete success).

Keywords

Antiepileptic’s, Cost-effectiveness, Paediatric Epilepsy, Drug Utilization

Cite This Article

Sandeep, A., Surya, C. D., Bhanu, C. T., Saravanan, S., & Saravana, K. R. T. (2013). Study of Drug Utilization, Cost-Effectiveness and Outcome of Antiepileptics used in Paediatric Ward of Tertiary Care Hospital in Tamil Nadu, India. International Journal for Pharmaceutical Research Scholars (IJPRS), 2(4), 490-502.