Effect of selected clinical trial publication on adjunctive nonstatin medication prescribing in the Veterans Health Administration system

• Published in: American journal of health-system pharmacy 2016-12, Vol.73 (23 Suppl 6), p.S141-S147
• Main Authors: Titus-Rains, Krystal S, Cantrell, Matthew A, Egge, Jason A, Alexander, Bruce, Shaw, Robert F, Argo, Tami R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anticholesteremic Agents - administration & dosage; Cardiovascular Diseases - drug therapy; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Clinical Trials as Topic; Cohort Studies; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology; Drug Prescriptions; Drug Therapy, Combination; Dyslipidemias - drug therapy; Dyslipidemias - epidemiology; Female; Humans; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors - administration & dosage; Hypercholesterolemia - drug therapy; Hypercholesterolemia - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Periodicals as Topic - trends; Retrospective Studies; United States - epidemiology; United States Department of Veterans Affairs - trends; Veterans Health - trends; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1079-2082; 1535-2900
• DOI: 10.2146/ajhp150665

PURPOSEThe question of whether publication of selected clinical trials is temporally followed by changes in prescribing of adjunctive lipid-lowering medications was evaluated. METHODSIn this retrospective preanalysis and postanalysis, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients 18 years or older who received a new or renewed order for any lipid-lowering medication between April 2, 2004, and September 2, 2014, were included. This period was chosen based on the publication dates of three trials investigating the efficacy of nonstatin medicationsSimvastatin with or without Ezetimibe in Familial Hypercholesterolemia (ENHANCE, April 3, 2008), Effects of Combination Lipid Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (ACCORD Lipid, March 14, 2010), and Niacin in Patients with Low HDL Cholesterol Levels Receiving Intensive Statin Therapy (AIM-HIGH, December 15, 2011). Annual prescribing rates for ezetimibe, fibrates, and niacin were analyzed for 4 years before and after the ENHANCE, ACCORD, and AIM-HIGH trial publication dates, respectively (3 years for niacin in AIM-HIGH) and reported as percent of patients in the cohort. RESULTSAmong patients receiving lipid-lowering medications, relatively low overall prescribing rates were observed for all three target medications. Prescribing rates for each medication decreased after its respective trial publication, with ezetimibe having the greatest change. CONCLUSIONPrescribing of fibrates, niacin, and ezetimibe in the VHA system decreased after the publication of landmark trials assessing their addition to a statin, consistent with the recommendations in the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guideline, which did not encourage routine use of adjunctive therapies to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.