Table 3.
Multi-drug regimens prescribed to patients with NTMD within primary care in the UK, 2004–2006
| Multi-drug regimen for the treatment of NTMD | Patients n (% treated) | Regimen matches recommendations |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended regimens | 572 (53.2) | |
| Rifampicin/rifabutin + ethambutol + isoniazid* (+ clarithromycin/azithromycin) | 212 (19.7) | BTS00; ATS07; BTS17 |
| Rifampicin/rifabutin + ethambutol | 175 (16.3) | BTS00 |
| Rifampicin/rifabutin + ethambutol + clarithromycin/azithromycin (+ amikacin) | 155 (14.4) | BTS17; ATS07 |
| Ethambutol + clarithromycin/azithromycin | 19 (1.77) | ATS07** |
| Rifampicin/rifabutin + ethambutol + moxifloxacin (+ clarithromycin/azithromycin) | 11 (1.02) | BTS17 |
| Other/non-recommended combination | 503 (46.8) | |
| Rifampicin/rifabutin + isoniazid* (+ clarithromycin/azithromycin) | 355 (33.0) | |
| Isoniazid* + sulfamethoxazole (+ clarithromycin/azithromycin) | 104 (9.67) | |
| Ethambutol + isoniazid* | 13 (1.21) | |
| Rifampicin/rifabutin + isoniazid* + moxifloxacin | 6 (0.56) | |
| Other*** | 25 (2.33) | |
| Total number of patients on therapy | 1075 (100) |
NTMD, nontuberculous mycobacterial disease; pts, patients; BTS00, British Thoracic Society 2000 recommendations [12]; BTS17, British Thoracic Society 2017 recommendations [2]; ATS07, American Thoracic Society/Infectious Disease Society of America 2007 recommendations [1]. Drugs separated by a forward slash (/) mean that either drug may be used in the regimen. Drugs in parentheses are optional additions to the regimen. The counts of patients taking each regimen include patients taking either of the drugs separated by a forward slash and/or patients taking the regimen with or without the optional drugs in parentheses. *In all cases, isoniazid is recommended to be taken in combination with pyridoxine. **This combination was hesitantly recommended for only those with disease caused by Mycobacterium avium complex who had mild disease, medication intolerance, or disease suppression [1]. ***Other refers to some other combination of the 13 identified drugs, containing at least one of isoniazid, ethambutol, rifampicin + isoniazid/ethambutol, or rifabutin + isoniazid/ethambutol that individually had less than 5 patients