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KMID : 1011320120050010015
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Journal of Pharmacoepidemiology and Risk Management
2012 Volume.5 No. 1 p.15 ~ p.24
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Prescription Patterns of Statins for Elderly Patients in Korea
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Yang Bo-Ram
Kim Ye-Jee
Seong Jong-Mi
Choi Nam-Kyong
Shin Ju-Young
Ahn So-Hyeon
Kim Mi-Sook
Lee Joong-Yub
Park Byung-Joo
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Abstract
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Objective: To investigate the prescription patterns of statins in Korean elderly patients.
Methods: We used Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service database between January, 2005 and June, 2006. Patients aged 65 or older receiving at least one statin prescription were evaluated. We described patient characteristics including gender, age, region, type of medical care institution, diagnosis of dyslipidemia, co-morbidities and generic name of statins. Time trend in utilization of statins was measured with defined daily dose (DDD) per 1,000 patients per day. Proportion and frequency of statins prescriptions were analyzed by generic name according to type of medical care institution. Proportion of patients with statins prescription according to regions was also analyzed.
Results: A total of 530,699 elderly patients received statins, 69.6% of the subjects were female. The number of statin prescription was 3,411,131. Among the study subjects, common co-morbidities were hypertension (86.2%), diabetes mellitus (47.3%) and ischemic heart disease (39.8%). The most frequently prescribed drug was simvastatin (46.6%) followed by atorvastatin (21.8%) and lovastatin (13.2%). The increase in utilization (DDDs per 1,000 patients per day) was about 27% for a year. In primary care clinics, simvastatin (58.1%) was most frequently used statins, however atorvastatin (35.5%) was most commonly prescribed in tertiary care institutions. Proportion of patients who prescribed statins was relatively higher in Seoul, Gwangju and Daegu.
Conclusion: The overall use of statins for elderly patients has increased markedly in Korea. Further studies will be needed to analyze the risk and benefit of increasing statins use which will provide more insight for developing appropriate guideline for statins prescription for elderly Korean patients.
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KEYWORD
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Drug utilization review, Statin, Dyslipidemia, Aged
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