PubMed1999
OBJECTIVES: Assess changes in the number of prescriptions for peripheral and cerebral vasoactive drugs for the treatment of lower limb arteritis and cerebrovascular disease since the promulgation in 1995 of prescription standards for the treatment of lower limb arteritis. Assess compliance to prescription standards with a detailed analysis of patient features, prescriptions written for lower limb arteritis, cerebrovascular disease and concomitant diseases and evaluate changes in treatment costs for lower limb arteritis and cerebrovascular disease as well as cost of the full prescription, including treatments for associated diseases. METHODS: This study was based on data recorded during the Permanent Study of Medical Prescriptions conducted from March 1994 to February 1995 and from March 1995 to February 1996 by the IMS. Prescription costs were established from the National Description Files of the IMS. Treatment costs were expressed as public price (FF) tax included. Prescriptions meeting the following criteria were selected for each period: prescriptions written by general practitioners for drugs with peripheral and cerebral vasoactivity (excepting calcium antagonists with a cerebral target) belonging to the Anatomic Therapeutic Classes C4A1 of the European Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Association, Bromly 1996; prescriptions for diagnoses 447.6 (arteritis) and 437.9 (cerebrovascular disease) according to the 9th WHO classification. A random sample of 500 prescriptions was selected to calculate costs. RESULTS: Since the advent of the prescription standards in 1995, prescriptions have dropped off by 6.3% for lower limb arteritis and by 14.8% for cerebrovascular disease. There was a 3.7 point decline in the percentage of multiple prescriptions of vasoactive drugs for lower limb arteritis (21.7% prior to March 1995 versus 18% after promulgation of the prescription standards, p > 0.1) and a 1.8 increase in the percentage of multiple prescriptions for cerebrovascular disease (14% prior to March 1995 and 15.8% after promulgation of the prescription standards, p > 0.1). For the treatment of lower limb arteritis, prescription costs fell by a mean 9% per prescription and for the treatment of cerebrovascular disease they rose by a mean 7% per prescription. The price rise, due to multiple prescriptions of vasoactive drugs was 190 FF per prescription for lower limb arteritis and 104 FF per prescription for cerebrovascular disease. CONCLUSION: Despite the retrospective nature of this study where confounding factors could not be controlled, our findings are in agreement with those reported earlier suggesting that cost containment policy implemented by the prescription standards has had little efficacy. In patients with arterial disease of the lower limbs, the percentage of prescriptions not complying with the recommended standards decreased by one-third to one-half over a 2-year period since the prescription standards were first announced in 1994.