Time Trends of Period Prevalence Rates of Patients with Inhaled Long-Acting Beta-2-Agonists-Containing Prescriptions: A European Comparative Database Study

Rottenkolber, Marietta; Voogd, Eef; Dijk, Liset van; Primatesta, Paola; Becker, Claudia; Schlienger, Raymond; Groot, Mark C. H. de; Alvarez, Yolanda; Durand, Julie; Slattery, Jim; Afonso, Ana; Requena, Gema; Gil, Miguel; Alvarez, Arturo; Hesse, Ulrik; Gerlach, Roman; Hasford, Joerg; Fischer, Rainald; Klungel, Olaf H. und Schmiedl, Sven (2015): Time Trends of Period Prevalence Rates of Patients with Inhaled Long-Acting Beta-2-Agonists-Containing Prescriptions: A European Comparative Database Study.
In: PLOS ONE 10(2), e0117628

Abstract

Background Inhaled, long-acting beta-2-adrenoceptor agonists (LABA) have well-established roles in asthma and/or COPD treatment. Drug utilisation patterns for LABA have been described, but few studies have directly compared LABA use in different countries. We aimed to compare the prevalence of LABA-containing prescriptions in five European countries using a standardised methodology. Methods A common study protocol was applied to seven European healthcare record databases (Denmark, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands (2), and the UK (2)) to calculate crude and age-and sex-standardised annual period prevalence rates (PPRs) of LABA-containing prescriptions from 2002-2009. Annual PPRs were stratified by sex, age, and indication (asthma, COPD, asthma and COPD). Results From 2002-2009, age-and sex-standardised PPRs of patients with LABA-containing medications increased in all databases (58.2%-185.1%). Highest PPRs were found in men >= 80 years old and women 70-79 years old. Regarding the three indications, the highest age-and sex-standardised PPRs in all databases were found in patients with "asthma and COPD" but with large inter-country variation. In those with asthma or COPD, lower PPRs and smaller inter-country variations were found. For all three indications, PPRs for LABA-containing prescriptions increased with age. Conclusions Using a standardised protocol that allowed direct inter-country comparisons, we found highest rates of LABA-containing prescriptions in elderly patients and distinct differences in the increased utilisation of LABA-containing prescriptions within the study period throughout the five European countries.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin > Institut für Medizinische Informationsverarbeitung, Biometrie und Epidemiologie
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Sprache: Englisch