Role of patient experience in antidepressant adherence: a retrospective data analysis

BACKGROUND: In a previous study, we found that past medication use was associated with medication adherence in patients prescribed atypical antipsychotics. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to determine whether past medication experience was associated with adherence in patients prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. METHODS: Deidentified computerized pharmacy records of patients from 1157 pharmacies throughout the United States were used to select patients who were dispensed extended-release venlafaxine, controlled-release paroxetine, sertraline, fluoxetine, escitalopram, and/or citalopram between October 1, 2003, and March 31, 2004. Patients who were dispensed an antidepressant during this enrollment period were stratified into 2 groups. One group consisted of patients to whom an antidepressant medication had not been dispensed in the 180-day period prior to the index date. The other group was composed of individuals who had been dispensed an antidepressant during that period. Discontinuation was defined as being > or =30 days late for a scheduled refill. Adherence was measured using Kaplan-Meier analysis during a 360-day follow-up period. Results: Of 211,565 patients analyzed, 38.5% had not received an antidepressant previously; 74.0% of the total sample were women. The mean age was 50.5 years. The median times to medication discontinuation were 67 days in patients not previously dispensed an antidepressant and 184 days in those who were. Discontinuation in the first 30 days was observed in 38.8% of patients not previously dispensed an antidepressant and in 18.8% of those who were. CONCLUSIONS: Prior antidepressant receipt rather than the use of a particular medication was associatedwith antidepressant adherence in this analysis. Patients without prior antidepressant receipt faced twice the risk for discontinuation during the first 30 days of treatment.     

Pharmacy data identify poorly adherent patients with schizophrenia at increased risk for admission

BACKGROUND: Health care organizations may be able to use pharmacy data to identify patients with schizophrenia and poor antipsychotic adherence. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a pharmacy-based measure of outpatient adherence, the medication possession ratio (MPR), is associated with adverse outcomes among patients with schizophrenia, as evidenced by increased psychiatric admission. RESEARCH DESIGN: Cohort study linking pharmacy and utilization data for veterans with schizophrenia. MPRs were calculated by dividing the number of days' supply of antipsychotic medication the veteran had received by the number of days' supply they needed to receive to take their antipsychotic continuously. Using multivariate regression, the relationship between MPRs and psychiatric admission was examined. SUBJECTS: Sixty-seven thousand seventy-nine veterans who received a diagnosis of schizophrenia and had outpatient antipsychotic medication fills between October 1, 1998 and September 30, 1999. RESULTS: Patients with MPRs close to 1.0 had the lowest rates of admission. As patients secured progressively smaller proportions of required antipsychotic medication (and had smaller MPRs), rates of admission climbed. Among patients on one antipsychotic (n = 49,003), patients with poor adherence (MPRs < 0.8) were 2.4 times as likely to be admitted as patients with good adherence (MPRs from 0.8-1.1). 23% of poorly adherent patients but only 10% of adherent patients were admitted. Once admitted, poorly adherent patients had more hospital days. Patients who received excess medication also had higher admission rates. CONCLUSIONS: Many health care systems may be able to use pharmacy data to identify poorly adherent patients with schizophrenia. These patients are at-risk for admission and may benefit from intervention.     

Impact of Early Nonadherence to Oral Antipsychotics on Clinical and Economic Outcomes Among Patients with Schizophrenia

Introduction

To quantify early nonadherence to antipsychotic medications in patients with schizophrenia and its impact on short-term antipsychotic adherence, healthcare utilization, and costs.

Methods

Patients who initiated oral antipsychotic treatment between January 1, 2006 to September 30, 2009 were identified from the MarketScan®Commercial Claims and Encounters (CCE) database (Truven Health Analytics, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA). Patients were required to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia determined by the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code 295.x, be 13–65 years of age, and have ≥12 months of continuous coverage prior to and after (follow-up) the earliest antipsychotic usage (index event). Medication discontinuation was defined as a gap of 30 days in available therapy; early nonadherence was defined as having the gap 90 days from the index event. During the follow-up period, medication adherence was estimated with quarterly medication possession ratios (MPR), and all-cause and schizophrenia-related healthcare resource utilization and costs were determined.

Results

The mean time to discontinuation (TTD) was 39.5 ± 20.1 days for early nonadherence patients (n = 873) and 250.7 ± 103.3 days for patients who were adherent early (n = 589). Early nonadherence resulted in more hospitalizations (0.57 vs. 0.38; P = 0.0006) with longer length of stay (LOS, 5.0 vs. 3.0 days; P = 0.0013) and higher costs ($5,850 vs. $4,211; P = 0.0244); schizophrenia-related hospitalizations, LOS, and costs were also greater. Patients that were adherent used more schizophrenia-related medications (10.4 vs. 4.7; P < 0.0001), increasing pharmacy costs ($3,684 vs. $1,549; P < 0.0001). Early nonadherence was correlated with lower drug adherence at each quarter of the follow-up period.

Conclusion

Approximately 60% of patients with schizophrenia are nonadherent to antipsychotic medication early in treatment and are less likely to be adherent later. Early nonadherence resulted in more all-cause and schizophrenia-related hospitalizations with a greater LOS and cost of care.     

Medication discontinuation with depot and oral antipsychotics in outpatients with schizophrenia: comparison of matched cohorts from a 12-month observational study

Aims: This study compared all‐cause medication discontinuation (any switch, augmentation or medication discontinuation) in matched cohorts of patients with schizophrenia who were initiated on depot or oral antipsychotics. Other objectives included between‐group comparisons of resource use, and clinical and functional outcomes. Methods: This post hoc analysis of a one‐year, multicentre, prospective, observational study included outpatients with schizophrenia who required a change in their antipsychotic medication because of a physician‐perceived risk of medication non‐adherence. Patients were matched 1 : 1 using an optimal algorithm with rank‐based Mahalanobis distances. All‐cause medication discontinuation was compared using the Klein and Moeschberger test for survival and hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a Cox proportional hazards model, stratifying on matched pairs. Results: Forty patients who initiated a depot antipsychotic could be matched to patients who initiated an oral antipsychotic. Fewer depot‐treated patients discontinued their antipsychotic medication at least once compared with oral‐treated patients [20% (8/40) vs. 40% (16/40)]. Depot‐treated patients discontinued their medication later (Klein and Moeschberger test p = 0.025) and were less likely to discontinue their initial antipsychotic medication [HR = 0.33 (95% CI, 0.12–0.92), p = 0.033] than oral‐treated patients. There were few differences in resource use and no differences in clinical and functional outcomes between cohorts. Conclusion: In this matched‐cohort analysis, patients with schizophrenia who were considered to be non‐adherent with their prior oral antipsychotics were less likely to discontinue their medication for any cause if they were initiated on depot compared with oral antipsychotics.     

Multiple antipsychotic medication prescribing patterns

OBJECTIVE: To assess current prescribing practices regarding concomitant use of antipsychotic medications and summarize the reasons clinicians may prescribe >1 scheduled agent. METHODS: The pharmacy identified patients at William R Sharpe Jr Hospital currently receiving antipsychotic therapy. All patients receiving >/=2 scheduled antipsychotic agents concomitantly were included in the study. Data regarding the demographics, current medication combinations used, history of therapeutic regimens tried, and prescriber rationale were prospectively evaluated for a 60-day period beginning December 13, 2000, and ending February 10, 2001. Prescriber rationale for using >1 antipsychotic simultaneously and other drug therapy regimens that had been tried were compared with chart documentation and published therapeutic guidelines for schizophrenia. RESULTS: Over a 60-day surveillance period, 206 patients were placed on scheduled antipsychotic medications, with 85 (41%) receiving at least 2 agents. Responders to a prescriber questionnaire (59%) indicated the most common rationale for combination therapy was augmentation; the least likely rationale was cross-titration. Survey responses also indicated a belief that there was questionable therapeutic benefit in more than half of the patients being treated with multiple antipsychotic combinations. Additionally, chart documentation showed that the majority of these patients did not receive an adequate trial of monotherapy with other atypical or typical agents, or clozapine prior to the combination antipsychotic regimen. Fifty-one percent of medical records did not document the rationale for concomitant therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the lack of published data, the practice of using multiple antipsychotic agents is considered to be a gray area that requires the prescriber to be at a heightened level of awareness in assessing effectiveness and safety. Documentation of rationale, adverse effects, and response to the treatment regimen is essential in providing optimal care for the patient.     

Treatment persistence: a comparison among patients with schizophrenia who were initiated on atypical antipsychotic agents

BACKGROUND: Although clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of atypical antipsychotic agents in reducing symptoms of schizophrenia, the likelihood of sustaining control of schizophrenic symptoms may depend on treatment persistence. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we compared treatment persistence between patients who were initiated on risperidone or olanzapine, the two most widely prescribed atypical antipsychotic agents. METHOD: We identified patients with schizophrenia by ICD-9-CM codes (> or =1 inpatient or > or =2 outpatient ICD-9-CM codes > or =7 days apart) between 1 July 1998 and 30 June 1999. We further selected those who were prescribed the target drug during 1 April 1999 through 31 March 2000 provided that they were not on any antipsychotic agents during the prior 6 months. Using event history analysis, we compared the treatment persistence in terms of hazard ratio between olanzapine and risperidone initiators, adjusting for patient's sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Following the initiation of the target drug, more patients switched from risperidone to olanzapine than vice versa. However, among patients with schizophrenia who had comorbid diabetes, there were more patients who made a switch from olanzapine to risperidone; whereas among those who used anxiolytics, there were more patients who switched from risperidone to olanzapine. Finally, olanzapine initiators had decreased hazards of discontinuation by 14% (unadjusted; P < 0.001) and 12% (adjusted; P = 0.002), respectively, than risperidone initiators. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with risperidone, olanzapine seems to be better tolerated by patients as indicated by better treatment persistence. As such, initiation of olanzapine may increase the likelihood of sustaining control of symptoms of schizophrenia. Future research needs to provide a more comprehensive assessment of treatment persistence by considering other antipsychotic agents in the study and developing models to assess treatment persistence and switching as two interdependent competing risks.     

Characteristics Associated With the Continuity of Atypical Antipsychotic Treatment Among Youth Discharged From Residential Treatment

This article examined the continuity of atypical antipsychotic medications among children and adolescents following discharge from a residential mental health treatment facility in the state of Florida from 2005 through 2011. Discharge data are reported by the residential providers, while post-discharge data are from Medicaid enrollment and claims files. Fifty-five percent of youth were receiving antipsychotic medications when discharged from residential treatment. Of those receiving such medications, 55% continued with their medication after discharge. Antipsychotics were more likely at discharge among youth who were older, had longer treatment episodes, showed greater improvements during treatment, and had prior involuntary examinations and out-of-home treatment episodes. Continuation of antipsychotic medication was more common among youth who had greater family involvement in treatment, longer treatment episodes, improved more during treatment, and had prior involuntary examinations. Continuation was less likely for youth with prior out-of-home treatment episodes. These results contribute to the existing literature by examining the continuity of atypical antipsychotic medication among children and adolescents following residential treatment.     

Adherence to oral antidiabetic therapy in a managed care organization: a comparison of monotherapy, combination therapy, and fixed-dose combination therapy

BACKGROUND: Although medication adherence is one of the most important aspects of the management of diabetes mellitus, low rates of adherence have been documented. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to examine medication adherence among patients with diabetes mellitus in a managed care organization who were receiving antidiabetic monotherapy (metformin or glyburide), combination therapy (metformin and glyburide), or fixed-dose combination therapy (glyburide/metformin). METHODS: Medication adherence was evaluated through a retrospective database analysis of pharmacy claims. The adherence rate was defined as the sum of the days' supply of oral antidiabetic medication obtained by the patient during the follow-up period divided by the total number of days in the designated follow-up period (180 days). Health plan members were included in the analysis if they had an index pharmacy claim for an oral antidiabetic medication between August 1 and December 31, 2000, were continuously enrolled in the health plan, and were aged > or =18 years. A 6-month pre-index period was used to classify patients as newly treated or previously treated. Patients were grouped according to their medication-use patterns. RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounding factors, including overall medication burden at index, there were no significant differences in adherence rates among 6502 newly treated patients receiving monotherapy, combination therapy, or fixed-dose combination therapy. Among the 1815 previously treated patients receiving glyburide or metformin monotherapy who required the addition of the alternative agent, resulting in combination therapy, adherence rates were significantly lower (54.0%; 95% CI, 0.52-0.55) than in the 105 patients receiving monotherapy who were switched to fixed-dose combination therapy (77.0%; 95% CI, 0.72-0.82). The 59 previously treated patients receiving combination therapy who were switched to fixed-dose combination therapy had a significant improvement in adherence after the switch (71.0% vs 87.0%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In a managed care organization, previously treated patients receiving monotherapy with an oral antidiabetic medication who required additional therapy exhibited significantly greater adherence when they were switched to fixed-dose combination therapy compared with combination therapy. Patients receiving combination therapy who were switched to fixed-dose combination therapy exhibited significantly greater adherence after the switch.