Clopidogrel tablets prescription in primary health care

Abstract

Introduction: antiplatelets are drugs used to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with transient ischemic attack and cerebral infarction; clopidogrel is a medication widely used in some cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: to characterize the prescription of the drug clopidogrel in 75 mg tablets in a community pharmacy in the Santa Clara municipality.

Methods: a cross-sectional descriptive investigation was carried out, which corresponds to a study of the use of prescription-indication type medications in August 2023. The universe was 852 patients, who had a certified prescription for current controlled medications and the non-probabilistic sample was made up of 62 patients. The variables were analyzed: age, sex, diagnosis, comorbidities and drug interactions. The percentage was used as a summary measure of the information. The ethical principles of scientific research were complied with.

Results: the age group over 60 years predominated (77.42 %), ischemic heart disease as a diagnosis (64.52 %) and high blood pressure as a comorbidity (66.13 %). Of the patients studied, 59.68 % used four or more medications; the combination with warfarin, acetylsalicylic acid and glibenclamide were the most clinically important drug interactions.

Conclusions: the use of clopidogrel in this study is supported by the finding of the majority presence of diseases that justified its prescription in the group of 60 years or older.