Adherence and dosing frequency of common medications for cardiovascular patients.

OBJECTIVES: To compare adherence between once-daily (QD) and twice-daily (BID) dosing with chronic-use prescription medications used by patients with cardiovascular disease. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort database analysis. METHODS: Analysis consisted of 1,077,474 patients aged >18 years with a prescription index date from January 1 to December 31, 2007, for an antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, antiplatelet, or cardiac agent with QD or BID dosing. Adherence (medication possession ratio [MPR]) was the number of days of medication supplied between the first prescription fill date and the subsequent 365 days divided by 365 days. Overall mean MPR and comparisons between dosing frequency groups were assessed with a generalized estimating equation. Covariates included age at index date, gender, Charlson comorbidity index, therapeutic class, dosing frequency, and the interaction between therapeutic class and dosing frequency group. RESULTS: Overall, the adjusted mean MPR ± standard error (SE) value for QD agents was 13.6% greater than BID agents (0.66 ± 0.0006 vs 0.57 ± 0.0016; P <.01). The adjusted mean MPR value for QD agents was 2.9%, 17.5%, and 29.4% greater than BID agents in the antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, and antiplatelet therapeutic classes, respectively. For cardiac agents, the adjusted mean MPR value was similar between QD and BID agents. Carvedilol represented approximately 80% of the cardiac agents in the BID group. The adjusted mean MPR ± SE for carvedilol phosphate QD was 0.73 ± 0.0024 and 0.65 ± 0.0027 for carvedilol BID (11% difference; P <.01). CONCLUSIONS: In this large analysis, the QD dosing regimen was related to greater adherence versus a BID regimen.

A comparison of the VerifyNow P2Y12 point-of-care device and light transmission aggregometry to monitor platelet function with prasugrel and clopidogrel: an integrated analysis.

We compared platelet function results obtained with the VerifyNow P2Y12 (VN-P2Y12) point-of-care device and the light transmission aggregometry (5 and 20 microM adenosine diphosphate) method using an integrated database of eight clinical trials with a total of 591 subjects. The study was performed in healthy subjects, patients with coronary artery disease, patients with end-stage renal disease, and patients with acute coronary syndrome after treatment with prasugrel or clopidogrel. Analyses focused on loading doses of 60 mg prasugrel or 600 mg clopidogrel and daily maintenance doses of 10 mg prasugrel or 75 or 150 mg clopidogrel. Similar patterns of platelet inhibition were observed for light transmission aggregometry versus VN-P2Y12 and assay results were well correlated (r approximately 0.7), although a sigmoidal model may more accurately represent the relationship between light transmission aggregometry and VN-P2Y12, because VN-P2Y12 was relatively less sensitive to low and high levels of inhibition. The percentage of poor responders was less with prasugrel compared with clopidogrel by both assays, but the percentages tended to differ between the assays. The VN-P2Y12 "BASE" channel appeared to be susceptible to high levels of P2Y12 blockade, which would underestimate the VN-P2Y12-reported percent inhibition in individuals who respond well to loading doses of thienopyridines. This integrated analysis supports the findings of earlier individual studies comparing these methodologies that assess platelet function.

Through the eyes of women: the partners' perspective on tadalafil.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate patient and female partner responses on the efficacy of, and overall satisfaction with, tadalafil to treat erectile dysfunction using sexual encounter profile (SEP) diaries. METHODS: Data were pooled from four double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-week trials that included 746 couples. Patients were randomized to placebo or tadalafil 10 or 20 mg. Efficacy was evaluated by the mean per-patient/per-partner percentage of "yes" responses to patient SEP questions 1, 2, and 5 and partner SEP questions 1 to 3 (erection achievement, penetration, and overall satisfaction with the sexual experience, respectively) for tadalafil versus placebo. For each SEP question, the number of postbaseline intercourse attempts when each couple agreed on the outcome was tabulated and divided by the total number of postbaseline attempts to calculate the mean percentage of agreement by couple. The overall satisfaction with successful postbaseline intercourse attempts was determined. RESULTS: Tadalafil significantly improved the responses for the patient and partner-evaluated SEP questions (P <0.001, both doses versus placebo). Partners tended to report greater overall satisfaction than patients at baseline and postbaseline. The mean percentage of agreement by couple was approximately 98% for erection achievement and penetration and 85% for overall satisfaction. For successful intercourse attempts, patients and partners treated with tadalafil reported more overall satisfaction than those treated with placebo (P <0.05, tadalafil versus placebo comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: Partners reported significantly improved overall sexual satisfaction and corroborated the man's report of improved erections and penetration ability with tadalafil 10 mg or 20 mg. Men reported improved erection achievement, penetration, and overall satisfaction with the sexual experience after taking tadalafil.

Appropriateness of prescribing practices for serotonergic antidepressants.

OBJECTIVE: Data from prescribing physicians were used to assess whether serotonergic antidepressants were used for appropriate indications and at appropriate initial dosages. METHODS: Data were derived from the confidential logs of psychiatrists and primary care physicians who provided prescription information from January 1, 1997, through June 30, 1999, as part of the National Disease and Therapeutic Index physician survey. The survey is not affiliated with a reimbursement system and therefore minimizes bias related to reimbursement. Data on the primary reason for use and the dosage at the time of first use were obtained for prescriptions of citalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, and extended-release venlafaxine. RESULTS: Depressive disorders accounted for the majority of the 3,206 prescriptions for the six antidepressants (74 percent to 86.2 percent). The next most common indications for use were anxiety (4.1 percent to 12.6 percent) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (1.3 percent to 3.3 percent). For patients with depressive disorders, psychiatrists prescribed slightly higher antidepressant dosages than primary care physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Serotonergic antidepressants are used primarily for the treatment of depression and depression-related disorders and are prescribed at the recommended starting dosages.