Table 2.
Duration of Use Analysis, 2002–2011
| Variable | Antiobesity Drugs
|
Comparator Drugs
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzphetamine | Diethylpropion | Orlistat | Phendimetrazine | Phentermine | Sibutramine | Captopril | Repaglinide | |
| No. of patients | 14,329 | 89,207 | 232,493 | 100,052 | 1,369,091 | 238,241 | 646,455 | 293,601 |
| No. of calendar yrs with any prescription activity (mean) | 4.9 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 4.6 | 5.7 |
| No. of antiobesity drug dispensings/patient | ||||||||
| Mean | 5.3 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 10.9 | 8.5 |
| Median | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Mode no. (%) days of supply/dispensing | 30 (66.1) | 30 (81.2) | 30 (76.9) | 30 (65.0) | 30 (87.0) | 30 (90.0) | 30 (83.3) | 30 (76.0) |
| No. of episodes of use | ||||||||
| Mean | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Median | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Patients with only one episode | 59.3% | 62.6% | 60.6% | 64.0% | 54.5% | 67.0% | 46.3% | 45.6% |
| Cumulative duration | ||||||||
| Mean (days) | 139 | 108 | 106 | 91 | 116 | 97 | 380 | 306 |
| Median (days) | 60 | 47 | 48 | 37 | 60 | 60 | 164 | 133 |
| 1–30 days | 43.9% | 46.4% | 45.9% | 47.9% | 37.3% | 43.9% | 21.7% | 22.0% |
| 31–90 days | 25.3% | 25.5% | 25.6% | 27.0% | 26.9% | 25.9% | 16.4% | 19.6% |
| 91–360 days | 21.6% | 22.5% | 23.0% | 21.1% | 29.9% | 26.2% | 30.2% | 31.8% |
| > 360 days | 9.2% | 5.6% | 5.5% | 4.0% | 5.8% | 4.0% | 31.7% | 26.5% |
| Duration of longest episode | ||||||||
| Mean (days) | 92 | 72 | 67 | 65 | 75 | 75 | 247 | 174 |
| Median (days) | 33 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 45 | 34 | 131 | 90 |
| 1–30 days | 49.1% | 55.0% | 58.2% | 55.2% | 47.4% | 49.4% | 22.3% | 27.7% |
| 31–90 days | 24.2% | 23.8% | 22.6% | 25.5% | 26.5% | 24.7% | 17.3% | 23.0% |
| 91–360 days | 22.6% | 19.3% | 17.5% | 18.0% | 24.8% | 24.6% | 39.0% | 36.3% |
| > 360 days | 4.2% | 1.9% | 1.7% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 21.5% | 13.0% |
Data source: Source Healthcare Analytics Source Lx, 2002–2011.