Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital Researchers Describe Advances in Dopaminergic Antiparkinsonism Agents (Metoclopramide and Levosulpiride Use and Subsequent Levodopa Prescription in the Korean Elderly: The Prescribing Cascade)

2019 OCT 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Hospital & Nursing Home Daily -- Investigators publish new report on Dopaminergic Antiparkinsonism Agents. According to news originating from Gyeonggi Do, South Korea, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “The aim of this study was to investigate the prescribing cascade phenomenon of dopaminergic drugs such as levodopa in the management of gastroprokinetic drugs induced parkinsonism. Based on the Korea National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)-Senior Cohort Database, we analyzed patients aged 65 years, between 2009 and 2013, who obtained new prescriptions for levodopa through the NHIS during this period.”

Financial supporters for this research include Korea Christian University.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital: “Those who were prescribed levodopa from 2002 to 2008 were excluded, only patients who were prescribed metoclopramide and levosulpiride within 90 days of receiving the levodopa prescription were included. Those who did not receive levodopa were used as a control group for 1:3 age and sex matching. We assessed 1824 and 1197 levodopa cases for metoclopramide and levosulpiride use, respectively. The matched controls for each levodopa case were 5472 and 3591, respectively. We used conditional logistic regression to determine the odds ratio (OR) for initiation of levodopa therapy in patients using metoclopramide and levosulpiride, relative to nonusers, after adjusting for age, sex, and exposure to antipsychotic medication. Both metoclopramide (OR = 3.04; 95% confidence interval, CI, 2.46-3.77) and levosulpiride (OR = 3.32; 95% CI, 2.56-4.3) users were three times more likely to begin using medication containing levodopa, compared to nonusers.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Metoclopramide and levosulpiride were frequently prescribed within 90 days of receiving a prescription for levodopa. Before prescribing levodopa, it should be considered whether the adverse event is actually a side effect caused by metoclopramide and levosulpiride.”

For more information on this research see: Metoclopramide and Levosulpiride Use and Subsequent Levodopa Prescription in the Korean Elderly: The Prescribing Cascade. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2019,8(9):1496. (Journal of Clinical Medicine - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcm). The publisher for Journal of Clinical Medicine is MDPI AG.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8091496.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Youn Huh, Department of Family Medicine, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, 170, Juhwa-ro, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 10380, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include Do-Hoon Kim, Moonyoung Choi, Joo-Hyun Park, Do-Young Kwon, Jin-Hyung Jung, Kyungdo Han, Yong-Gyu Park.

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