Publication Date:
2006-11-16
Description:
Introduction: ITP is a serious, chronic platelet production/destruction disorder frequently treated with CS (with a 50–70% response rate). While CS-associated adverse events are known to impair health-related quality of life, other disease complications have not been well studied in ITP patients (pts). Methods: A retrospective claims analysis used the PharMetrics Integrated Medical and Pharmaceutical Database (diagnosis, treatment, and claims data from 〉45 million managed care pts) to compare risks of disease complications in ITP pts (primary thrombocytopenia, ICD-9=287.3 [n=2454; 618 used CS; 1,836 did not]) and age- and gender-matched non-ITP controls (n= 21,196; 2,861 used CS; 18,335 did not) enrolled from July 2000 to December 2003. Incidence (new events during study period/persons exposed to risk) of osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus (DM), fractures, anxiety/depression, hepatitis C, myocardial infarction (MI), gastrointestinal (GI) bleeds, hypertension (HTN), obesity, atrial fibrillation, pancreatitis, cataracts, and stroke were compared between the 2 cohorts through December 2004. Descriptive statistics and univariate and multivariate logistic regression models assessed CS use by 4 measures (number of treatments, average daily dose, days of therapy, continuous duration). Clinical complexity was measured by the Charlson Comorbidity Index. Results: The most common events in ITP pts were HTN, anxiety/depression, DM, osteoporosis, obesity, cataracts, and MI (range, 26 [MI] to 237 [HTN] per 1,000 patient-years). These events were common but less frequent in non-ITP pts. ITP pts had significantly more CS use than non-ITP pts (by 4 treatment measures; all P4 CS doses had increased risks of most events (greatest for DM, obesity, and MI; less for osteoporosis, HTN, and depression). Event risk in non-ITP pts did not increase significantly with number of CS prescriptions. Each additional day of CS therapy was associated with a 0.5% increase in risk of osteoporosis, HTN, DM, and anxiety/depression in ITP pts. Osteoporosis, DM, and HTN were more than twice as likely to develop in ITP pts receiving ≥60 days of CS therapy vs those treated for
Print ISSN:
0006-4971
Electronic ISSN:
1528-0020
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
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