ABSTRACT Background: Genetic and environmental factors contribute to the risk of developing diabetes, with chronic hyperglycemia causing severe complications like cardiovascular diseases, neuropathy, nephropathy, and vision impairment. Aim: The aim of this research is to study prescription patterns of anti-diabetic drugs in a government primary healthcare center and to determine whether patterns were in accordance with international guidelines. Settings and Design: This study is a single-site cross-sectional study, conducted at Al-Takhasossi Primary Healthcare Center in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from medical records from January 2023 to July 2023, using convenient sampling from patient electronic files. Statistical Analysis: The Chi-square test is employed to evaluate the association between categorical data. The data were presented as the actual number, mean, and percentage. Level of significance: P ≤0.05. Results: Our study included 200 diabetic patients, 58% were male, and 42% were female. The majority were aged 51–70. The initial hemoglobin A1C (>8.0) recorded showed that all patients had poor diabetes control, with only 1% achieving normal control afterward. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity (59.1%). Metformin was the most prescribed drug (33.1%). Combination therapies (33.4%) were prevalent, with metformin + gliclazide + sitagliptin being the most common (18.9%). Factors such as therapy type and age significantly influenced diabetic control and prescription patterns. The type of therapy is strongly associated ( P < 0.001) with combination therapy having poorer control. Fasting plasma glucose and random blood sugar levels also significantly differ between good and poor control groups ( P < 0.05). Age significantly correlates with the number of drugs prescribed ( P = 0.029), with older age groups receiving more medication. Conclusions: We observed in our research that it is imperative to raise awareness regarding prescribing trends and the prescription of additional medications in accordance with treatment guidelines.
Alharbi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.