Drug use in children hospitalized with cardio-rheumatologic diseases in Andijan, Uzbekistan: a cross-sectional descriptive study

BACKGROUND: No studies have been conducted on rational drug use among children in Uzbekistan. This study aimed to analyze drug uses based on pharmaco-epidemiologic (PE) data from Regional Children’s Multi-Profile Medical Centre (RCMPMC) in Andijan, Uzbekistan. Our study assessed drug usage in children with cardiovascular (CV) diseases, without intervening in the treatment processes or in the course of the diseases. METHODS: Subjects were 853 children aged 0 to 180 months (median age, 60 months; inter-quartile range, 24–108 months) who were hospitalized in the department of Cardiology and Rheumatology in RCMPMC from January to December, 2013 and were prescribed one or more drugs during hospitalization. Drugs used for a different disease or medical condition, given in a different way and/or given in a different dose were analyzed and considered to be irrational drugs. RESULTS: The most commonly used medications among 10 drug groups prescribed by the doctors of RCMPMC were as follows: anti-arrhythmic (aspartic acid - 54.0 %), glycosides (digoxin - 44.0 %), diuretics (furosemide - 34.0 %), vitamins (ascorbic acid - 25.0 %), steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (prednisolone - 19.0 %), non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (diclofenac - 17.0 %), antibiotics (amoxicillin - 16.0 %), non-steroid anabolic drugs (potassium orotas - 14.0 %) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (captopril - 11.0 %). CONCLUSIONS: The study found that irrational drug schemes were quite frequent among pediatric CV patients and they are most frequent in children aged 2–3 years and younger.