Real‐World Evaluation of Health‐Care Resource Utilization and Costs in Employees with Fibromyalgia Treated with Pregabalin or Duloxetine

Abstract

The changes in health resource utilization and costs after initiation of pregabalin were not significantly different than the changes observed after initiation of duloxetine. These results not only demonstrate an overall similarity of resource utilization, but also suggest cost neutrality between pregabalin and duloxetine.

Clinical comorbidities, treatment patterns, and healthcare costs among patients with fibromyalgia newly prescribed pregabalin or duloxetine in usual care

“…However, patients initiated on pregabalin in that study were inherently different and potentially sicker than patients initiated on duloxetine due to disparate inclusion criteria applied to the two groups. Our results, and those of the aforementioned study in FM employees 41 , confirm no overall cost differences between these two medications when similar patient populations are evaluated. There were modest cost increases in both the pregabalin and duloxetine groups in the follow-up period in our study.…”

Cost comparison of drug–drug and drug–condition interactions in patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy treated with pregabalin versus duloxetine

“…Clinical characteristics were measured during the 12 months before the index date, based on inpatient medical, outpatient medical, and outpatient pharmaceutical claims data using ICD-9-CM codes, CPT codes, Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes, and National Drug Codes, as appropriate. [20][21][22] Statistical analyses. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariable statistical analyses were used to address this study's objectives.…”

Real-world comparison of health care utilization between duloxetine and pregabalin initiators with fibromyalgia

“…To the best of our knowledge, published real-world studies for fibromyalgia patients who initiated duloxetine or pregabalin1,2,4,62–64,87 have not yet longitudinally and cross-sectionally examined and compared the health care utilization rates between duloxetine and pregabalin initiators after these medications received approval from the FDA for the treatment of fibromyalgia. We believe that this study is the first that examined and compared these utilization rates longitudinally and cross-sectionally through the use of propensity score greedy matching methods with a postinitiation year extending beyond the FDA approval date.…”

“…Among all published real-world studies for fibromyalgia patients initiating duloxetine and pregabalin,1,2,4,62–64,87 only the current study and the study published by Sun et al1 examined and compared the real-world use of health care resources between fibromyalgia patients who used duloxetine and pregabalin after FDA approval for treating fibromyalgia, although these two studies used different analytical methods (the former used propensity score greedy matching methods, the latter used propensity score stratification methods). Because the focus of that published study1 was on medication compliance and direct medical costs, it did not examine or compare the longitudinal changes of health care utilization rates from the preinitiation year to the postinitiation year between the two cohorts.…”

“…Most of these published studies2–4,11,60–64,66–72 have a drawback in common: that they did not systematically examine the effect of medication choice between duloxetine and pregabalin on health care utilization rates within a period in which both medications were approved by FDA for fibromyalgia, and therefore, their results may not represent fibromyalgia patients who took these medications after FDA approval.…”