Effect of Prescription Drug Coupons on Statin Utilization and Expenditures: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Pharmacotherapy
; 37(1): 12-24, 2017 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27455456
ABSTRACT
IMPORTANCE Drug coupons are widely used, but their effects are not well understood. OBJECTIVE:
To quantify the effect of coupons on statin use and expenditures.DESIGN:
Retrospective cohort analysis of IMS Health LRx LifeLink database.SETTING:
U.S. retail pharmacy transactions.PARTICIPANTS:
Incident statin users who initiated branded atorvastatin or rosuvastatin between June 2006 and February 2013. MAIN OUTCOMES ANDMEASURES:
Monthly statin utilization (pill-days of therapy), switching (filling a different statin), termination (failure to refill statin for 6 mo), and out-of-pocket and total costs.RESULTS:
Of 1.1 million incident atorvastatin and rosuvastatin users, 2% used a coupon for at least one statin fill. At 1 year, compared with noncoupon users, those who used a statin coupon on their first fill were dispensed an equal number of monthly pill-days (23.7 vs 23.8), were less likely to switch statins (14.4% vs 16.3%), and were less likely to have terminated statin therapy (31.3% vs 39.2%). At 4 years, coupon users were more likely to have switched (45.5% vs 40.8%) and less likely to have terminated statin therapy (50.6% vs 61.1%) compared with noncoupon users. Those who used greater numbers of coupons were substantially less likely to switch and terminate statin therapies. Monthly out-of-pocket costs were lower among coupon than noncoupon users at 1 year ($9.7 vs $15.1), but total monthly costs were qualitatively similar ($115.5 vs $116.9). At 4 years, monthly out-of-pocket costs among coupon users remained lower ($14.3 vs $16.6) compared with noncoupon users. Sensitivity analyses supported the main results.CONCLUSIONS:
Coupons for branded statins are associated with higher utilization and lower rates of discontinuation and short-term switching to other statin products.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
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Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Costos de los Medicamentos
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Gastos en Salud
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Inhibidores de Hidroximetilglutaril-CoA Reductasas
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Medicamentos bajo Prescripción
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
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Health_economic_evaluation
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Observational_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Pharmacotherapy
Año:
2017
Tipo del documento:
Article