ArticlePain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain2018
Healthcare Costs and Medication Adherence Among Patients with Fibromyalgia: Combination Medication vs. Duloxetine, Milnacipran, Venlafaxine, and Pregabalin Initiators.
Article in Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs) for Treatment of Fibromyalgia: A Comprehensive Clinical Review.Psychopharmacology bulletin · 2025Review
- Article
- Recruitment characteristics and non-adherence associated factors of fibromyalgia patients in a randomized clinical trial: A retrospective survival analysis.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2021Article
- Venlafaxine Caffeic Acid Salt: Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Hypoglycemic Effect Analysis.ACS omega · 2021Article
- Association Between Dual Trajectories of Opioid and Gabapentinoid Use and Healthcare Expenditures Among US Medicare Beneficiaries.Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research · 2021Article
- Article
- Does physical exercise improve quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia?Irish journal of medical science · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo examine medication adherence and healthcare costs for combination prescription initiators (duloxetine/milnacipran/venlafaxine with pregabalin) vs. monotherapy initiators (duloxetine, milnacipran, venlafaxine, and pregabalin) among patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).
methodsOur retrospective cohort study used claims data for the South Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield State Health Plan (SHP). Patients with FMS ≥ 18 years of age, with prescription initiation from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2010, and SHP enrollment for 12 months pre- and post-index periods were included (combination: n = 100; pregabalin: n = 665; duloxetine: n = 713; milnacipran: n = 131; venlafaxine: n = 272). Medication adherence measures included high adherence (medication possession ratio ≥ 80%) and total supply days. Healthcare costs comprised direct medical expenditures. Propensity score methods of inverse probability of treatment weights were used to control for selection bias due to differing pre-index characteristics.
resultsOdds ratios for high adherence were significantly increased (P < 0.05) among the combination cohort vs. the venlafaxine (2.15), duloxetine (1.39), and pregabalin (2.20) cohorts. Rate ratios for total supply days were significantly higher (P < 0.05) for combination vs. venlafaxine (1.23), duloxetine (1.08), and pregabalin (1.32) cohorts. Expenditures for total health care were significantly higher (P < 0.05) for combination vs. duloxetine ($26,291 vs. $17,190), milnacipran ($33,638 vs. $22,886), and venlafaxine ($26,586 vs. $16,857) cohorts.
conclusionsMedication adherence was considerably better for combination prescription initiators; however, expenditures for total health care were higher. Still, our findings suggest important clinical benefits with the use of combination prescription therapy, and prospective studies of medication adherence are warranted to examine causal relationships with outcomes not captured by healthcare claims databases.
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