Abstract:
Drug utilization studies are important methods
of assessing how drugs are used in the society. Without the
knowledge of how drugs are being prescribed and used, it is
difficult to initiate discussion on rationale drug use and to
suggest measures to change prescribing habits for better
management of patients. This study therefore aimed to
evaluate the pattern of utilization of antiepileptic drugs
(AEDs) in the first 12 months of epilepsy treatment in children
in Jos, Nigeria.
Methods: A case record form was used to document all
relevant information of children with epilepsy that were
commenced on AED from January 2011 to December 2015.
Information collected in the first 12 months of commencement
of AED was used to evaluate the pattern of utilization of AEDs
among the study subjects. Information obtained was analyzed
with statistical package for social sciences software version 20.
Results: Three hundred and eighty one subjects with a median
age of 5.4 years were studied. The most frequently prescribed
drug at commencement of epilepsy treatment was
Carbamazepine (CBZ) (75.9%) followed by Sodium Valproate
(VPA) (17.1%) while the most frequent AED combination was
CBZ+VPA. Despite the fact that all the patients were
commenced on monotherapy, the rate of polytherapy at 12
months was 35.2%. Deviation from standard treatment
guidelines was observed in 127 (33.3%) of the subjects with the
most common deviation being the use of CBZ for generalized
tonic-clonic seizures.
Conclusion: Significant deviations were observed in the
utilization of AEDs in children with epilepsy. Using standard
guidelines in the treatment of childhood epilepsy will reduce
the rate of uncontrolled
