Much evidence for the usefulness of anti-hyperlipidemic agents is now available and clinical guidelines for the treatment of hyperlipidemia (HL) have been established so we thought that prescription trends might have changed in the last few years.Since it is important for pharmacists to be aware of the prescribing situation and evaluate it from the pharmaceutical aspect,we conducted a study to determine what changes had occurred from 2004 to 2006 at St.Luke's International Hospital regarding the use of anti-hyperlipidemic agents.We took our data from the drug ordering system.
Statins were the most frequently prescribed type of anti-hyperlipidemic agent in any year and prescriptions for atorvastatin had grown particularly sharply over the three years of the study.However,there was some variation among departments regarding these changes,for instance in kidney-related departments where the frequency of prescribing statins was noticeably higher.The package inserts of statins state that they require careful administration in patients with renal dysfunction so doctors and pharmacists should observe this in order to avoid adverse effects.
In conclusion,our findings indicate that evidence-based standard pharmacotherapy for HL has been practiced at St.Luke’s International Hospital and we feel that the results of this study on prescription drug use will be useful in ensuring the proper use of pharmaceutical products.