Clinical therapeutics
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Clinical therapeutics · Dec 2008
Multicenter StudyA US multicenter, retrospective, observational study of erythropoiesis-stimulating agent utilization in anemic, critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit.
Anemia is a common comorbid condition among patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Darbepoietin alfa and epoetin alfa are erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) used to manage anemia in the ICU, although neither drug has an indication in critically ill patients. ⋯ Based on these results, it is apparent that the practice patterns associated with ESA treatment of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU between February 2005 and September 2005 were highly variable.
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Clinical therapeutics · Dec 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialIntuitiveness, instruction time, and patient acceptance of a prefilled insulin delivery device and a reusable insulin delivery device in a randomized, open-label, crossover handling study in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Because the use of insulin therapy can place a substantial burden on patients with diabetes, insulin administration should be as simple as possible. ⋯ In this study, when all handling steps were included, the FP device was associated with significantly greater intuitiveness and a shorter injection time compared with the HL device. Further research is needed to determine whether these differences between devices are clinically meaningful.
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Clinical therapeutics · Dec 2008
Comparative StudyCost-effectiveness of ranibizumab compared with photodynamic treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
This study compared the cost-effectiveness of ranibizumab with that of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of predominantly classic choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) from the perspective of a third-party payer in a Spanish setting. ⋯ Based on these results, ranibizumab was not cost-effective when administered on a monthly basis. When administered as needed, ranibizumab was cost-effective compared with PDT for the treatment of AMD.
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Clinical therapeutics · Dec 2008
Persistence with migraine prophylactic treatment and acute migraine medication utilization in the managed care setting.
The aim of this study was to describe persistence with migraine prophylactic treatment and acute migraine medication utilization in patients prescribed migraine prophylaxis. ⋯ In this study, prescription of topiramate was associated with greater persistence with prophylactic treatment than the other prophylactic drugs. Furthermore, greater reductions in acute treatment utilization, particularly triptans, were observed among patients prescribed topiramate compared with the other prophylactic cohorts.
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Clinical therapeutics · Dec 2008
Perception of prescription medicine sample packs among Australian professional, government, industry, and consumer organizations, based on automated textual analysis of one-on-one interviews.
Prescription medicine samples provided by pharmaceutical companies are predominantly newer and more expensive products. The range of samples provided to practices may not represent the drugs that the doctors desire to have available. Few studies have used a qualitative design to explore the reasons behind sample use. ⋯ Participants recognized that prescription medicine samples have an influence on quality use of medicines and play a role in the marketing of medicines. They also believed that alternative distribution systems for samples could provide benefits. The cost of a noncommercial system for distributing samples or starter packs was a concern. These data will be used to design further research investigating alternative models for distribution of samples.