Effect of Information Intervention on Prescribing Practice for Neuropathic Pain in Older Patients : A Nationwide Register-Based Study
Ahomäki, I., Böckerman, P., Pehkonen, J., & Saastamoinen, L. (2023). Effect of Information Intervention on Prescribing Practice for Neuropathic Pain in Older Patients : A Nationwide Register-Based Study. Drugs and Aging, 40(1), 81-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-022-00993-4
Published in
Drugs and AgingDate
2023Discipline
Päätöksentekoa tukeva taloustiede ja talouden kilpailukyky (painoala)TaloustiedeEmpirical MicroeconomicsPolicy-Relevant Economics and Competitiveness of Economy (focus area)EconomicsEmpirical MicroeconomicsCopyright
© The Author(s) 2023
Introduction
Management of prescription medicines is challenging for older patients due to frail health and the prevalence of multiple chronic conditions. A salient policy challenge of prescribing practices is that all physicians are not well informed about the national clinical guidelines. A feasible policy intervention to mitigate the harms caused by Potentially Inappropriate Medications is to influence the frequency of prescribing and other prescribing attributes of the drugs by providing accurate and up-to-date information about the national clinical guidelines.
Objectives
The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a nationwide information intervention on physicians’ prescribing practices and patients’ healthcare utilization.
Methods
We used a quasi-experimental research design based on difference-in-differences variation and nationwide register data on prescribers and purchasers of pregabalin, nortriptyline, and amitriptyline combinations in Finland between January 2018 and May 2019. The study included 68,914 patients and 11,432 physicians.
Results
We found that the information letter sent to all prescribers of pregabalin, nortriptyline, or amitriptyline combinations to patients aged 75 years or older decreased the probability of prescribing of these medications. The estimated effect of − 3.3 percentage points (95% confidence interval [− 0.041, − 0.024]) corresponds to a 29% reduction compared to the baseline mean of the outcome. The filled quantity, measured in Defined Daily Doses, of pregabalin, nortriptyline, and amitriptyline combinations per month was reduced by 11.7% [− 14.5% to − 8.9%] among patients aged 75 years or older. No effect on patients’ healthcare utilization was observed.
Conclusions
Findings of the study suggest that personal information intervention was an effective policy tool for nudging physicians to reduce prescribing of potentially inappropriate medicines, whereas the reduction in prescribing was not accompanied by improvements or adverse effects in patients’ health.
...


Publisher
SpringerISSN Search the Publication Forum
1170-229XPublication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/172637166
Metadata
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- Kauppakorkeakoulu [1414]
Additional information about funding
This study was supported by Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation (grant numbers 20197162 and 20207267) and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA). Open Access funding was provided by KELA.License
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