Evidence of Sample Use Among New Users of Statins
Implications for Pharmacoepidemiology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9099037 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xiaojuan Li (0000-0002-7510-6593), Til Stürmer (0000-0002-9204-7177), M Alan Brookhart (0000-0003-1572-0564) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 773-780 |
| Publication date | 2014-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Medical Care (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0025-7079 • E-ISSN: 1537-1948 |
| Publisher | Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1097/mlr.0000000000000174 |
| PMID | 24984210 |
| PMCID | PMC4141474 |
| OpenAlex | W2333868430 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 29 |
BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies of prescription medications increasingly rely on large administrative health care databases. These data do not capture patients' use of medication samples. This could potentially bias studies of short-term effects where date of initiation may be inaccurate. OBJECTIVES: To assess the extent of sample use among patients initiating statin therapy. RESEARCH DESIGN: Retrospective cohort of patients who filled a first prescription for a statin after at least 6 months of statin-free period in 2007-2010. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) values obtained within the 15 days preceding the first prescription were analyzed using a 2-component Gaussian mixture model to look for evidence of prior treatment. SUBJECTS: A total of 26,033 statin initiators with at least 1 LDL laboratory result within the 15 days preceding the prescription fill. MEASURES: Estimators for the proportion of patients filling a new prescription already on treatment. RESULTS: Among 9256 patients filling a branded statin, LDL distribution was bimodal, consisting of 2 Gaussian distributions: one, which made up 13.4% of the total population, had much lower LDL values (mean=71.8 mg/dL) compared with the second (mean=148.0 mg/dL), suggesting drug use before first dispensed prescription. Among 16,777 patients filling a generic statin, LDL levels were substantially higher with no evidence of bimodality that would suggest prior sample use. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide indirect evidence that the initial period of branded medication use may often be missed when using pharmacy claims data to define drug initiation. Further research is needed to examine approaches to better identify incident medication use when assessing short-term effects
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors · MEDLINE · Political science · Sample (material) · Statin · Internal Medicine · Lipoproteins and Cardiovascular Health · Medication Adherence and Compliance · Medicine · Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reactions
Examining Parental Medication Adherence as a Predictor of Child Medication Adherence in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders
Approaches to Address Premature Death of Patients When Assessing Patterns of Use of Health Care Services After an Index Event
Knowing the Previously Unknown
Causal Inference Using Mixture Models
Identifying dietary patterns using a normal mixture model
Characteristics of Recipients of Free Prescription Drug Samples
Methodological Issues in the Use of Administrative Claims Data to Study Surveillance After Cancer Treatment
Confounding Control in Healthcare Database Research
Characteristics of Patients Receiving Pharmaceutical Samples and Association Between Sample Receipt and Out-of-Pocket Prescription Costs
Studying Prescription Drug Use and Outcomes With Medicaid Claims Data
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2018 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |