PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- New findings from IMS
HEALTH reveal that hypertensive patients diagnosed in 1997 were 25 percent
less likely to receive immediate treatment than those diagnosed in 1995. The
company said this may be an indication that doctors have been moving toward
new treatment guidelines that focus on trying lifestyle changes before
pharmaceuticals. IMS HEALTH is the world's leading provider of information
solutions to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
"With the rise in self-help philosophy and products," stated David Nash,
M.D., "more doctors today are giving patients the opportunity to turn things
around themselves through activities such as new diet and exercise regimens."
Dr. Nash is director of Health Policy & Clinical Outcomes at Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital and Chairman of IMS HEALTH's National Disease and
Therapeutic Index.
However, the IMS HEALTH study also found that female hypertensive patients
are 10 percent more likely to receive pharmaceutical treatment immediately
than are male patients. Dr. Nash said that although it is desirable to try
diet and exercise first for everyone, he believes women are being treated with
pharmaceuticals earlier because they tend to lose weight more slowly.
"These findings indicate the value of utilizing a clinically rich data
source to analyze the relationship between patient characteristics and
treatment patterns," said Ana-Maria Zaugg, vice president of IMS HEALTH's
Disease, Treatment & Outcomes Information Services. "Using patient-anonymous
electronic medical records data, we were able to control for severity of
illness through blood pressure readings that are captured as part of the
patient visit. This enabled us to appropriately examine the influence of
other factors, such as gender."
The study examined anonymous patient-level data on 9,257 people newly
diagnosed with hypertension by primary care physicians from 1995 through 1997.
Patients were observed for 12 months from the date of diagnosis to December
30, 1997. The data source was IMS HEALTH's new patient-level longitudinal
database, LifeLink(TM): Medical Record Solutions.
Likelihood of Early Treatment is Decreasing Over Time
The IMS HEALTH study found a consistent decrease of treatment over time --
hypertensive patients diagnosed in 1997 were 25 percent less likely to receive
immediate treatment than those diagnosed in 1995. And, patients diagnosed in
1996 were 11 percent less likely to have treatment started immediately than
patients diagnosed in 1995.
In addition, the patient-anonymous longitudinal data allowed exploration
of the length of time between diagnosis and drug therapy initiation. The data
revealed 57 percent of the hypertensive patients studied were treated within
the first month of diagnosis. Of those patients, the vast majority --
88 percent -- were treated on the date of diagnosis.
Gender Associated with Doctors' Decisions to Treat
In its examination of gender issues, the study revealed a higher
likelihood of immediate therapy initiation for females after statistically
adjusting for any differences in severity, comorbidity, and age profiles for
the female and male populations.
"It is not surprising that gender was a factor in physicians' decisions to
treat hypertensive patients pharmaceutically," said Zaugg. "However, since
males are more commonly associated with aggressive treatment, we would have
expected males to have higher rates of therapy initiation. The 'real-world'
data studied show us that, in fact, the reverse is true in the primary care
arena."
Based on his own experiences, Dr. Nash said, "Despite being more compliant
in general about their own healthcare, women seem to have a harder time losing
weight and do better with drug treatment as well as diet and exercise
changes."
Hypertension Severity, Heart Disease and Age Also Associated with
Decisions to Treat
In its study of factors associated with physicians' decisions to treat
patients diagnosed with hypertension immediately, IMS HEALTH also looked at
severity of hypertension, comorbidities and age. The study confirmed that:
Patients with Stage 3 (most severe) hypertension were 107 percent more likely
to be treated immediately than patients with Stage 1 hypertension. Patients
with Stage 2 hypertension were 48 percent more likely.
Of eight comorbidities considered, only one showed a statistically
significant association. Patients with comorbid arrhythmia were 50 percent
more likely to be treated immediately than patients without arrhythmia.
Relative to younger patients (<44 years old), patients ages 55-64 were
15 percent more likely to be treated immediately, the only age group with a
statistically significant finding.
Data in the LifeLink(TM): Medical Record Solutions database come from
patient-anonymous electronic medical records of nearly 800,000 patients with
more than four years of patient history. To protect the privacy of medical
records, all data are stripped of individual identifiers prior to their
release to IMS HEALTH. As the leader in patient level information, IMS
HEALTH's Disease, Treatment & Outcomes group provides the tools for healthcare
research by pharmaceutical manufacturers, healthcare providers and others to
understand disease and therapy patterns, patient behavior and treatment
outcomes.
IMS HEALTH
IMS HEALTH is the world's leading provider of information solutions to the
pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. With more than $1 billion in 1997
revenue, IMS HEALTH operates in over 90 countries. IMS HEALTH is the largest
pharmaceutical manufacturer information partner, with over 40 years'
experience in the industry. Key products and services integral to customer
day-to-day operations include: market research for prescription and over-the-
counter pharmaceutical products; sales management information to optimize
sales force productivity; technology enabled selling solutions for sales and
marketing decision-making; technologies systems and information services that
support managed care organizations. Additional information and previous press
releases are available at IMS HEALTH's web site: http://www.imshealth.com.
SOURCE IMS HEALTH
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.imshealth.com
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com or
fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 115785
CONTACT:
Gary Friend, 610-834-5654, or Nancy Duckwitz,
610-834-5338, both of IMS HEALTH
|
