Introduction:

the prevalence of disorders associated with thyrotoxicosis is not known in Colombia, nor pharmacoepidemiological studies are available on the prescription of antithyroid drugs.

Objective:

to determine the prescription patterns of antithyroid drugs and variables associated with their use in a population of Colombian patients.

Methods:

cross-sectional study, conducted between January 1 and March 30, 2015 on the prescription habits of antithyroid drugs in a population affiliated with the Colombian Health System. Sociodemographic, pharmacological and comedication variables were measured. A database on drug consumption was designed and student t-tests, X 2 and logistic regression models were used.

Results:

a total of 327 patients in treatment with antithyroid drugs were included. The mean age was 53.7 ± 18.1 years and 78.3% of patients corresponded to women. Methimazole was prescribed in 95.4% of patients, propylthiouracil in 4.6%. In 76.8% of patients, comedication was present in particular with antihypertensive agents (38.2%) and additionally with propranolol (34.3%).

Conclusions:

the prescription tendency of antithyroid drugs in Colombia is similar to that reported in different studies worldwide. The main antithyroid drug is methimazole, with a rate of use higher than that reported in North America and in European studies. The doses of methimazole and propylthiouracil reported in this study are in accordance with the recommendations of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology.