New Diabetes Study Findings Have Been Reported by Investigators at University of Southern Denmark (Drug safety and the impact of drug warnings: An…

Diabetes Week

New Diabetes Study Findings Have Been Reported by Investigators at University of Southern Denmark (Drug safety and the impact of drug warnings: An interrupted time series analysis of diabetes drug prescriptions in Germany and Denmark)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Diabetes Week -- Current study results on Diabetes have been published. According to news reporting out of Odense, Denmark, by NewsRx editors, research stated, "To analyse the impact of drug safety warnings from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on drug utilisation and their interaction with information released through national reimbursement bodies. Insurance claims data on anti-diabetic drug prescriptions in primary care in Germany and Denmark were analysed using interrupted time series analysis, with EMA drug warnings for thiazolidinediones (TZDs) in 2007 and 2011 as the intervention."

Financial supporters for this research include Free Danish Research Council, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (see also Diabetes).

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Southern Denmark, "Monthly drug utilisation data per substance in defined daily dosages (DDD) consumed per 1000 insurees were retrieved from the Danish national drug prescriptions register and one large statutory sickness fund in Germany. TZDs were generally reimbursed in Germany but restricted to individual reimbursement in Denmark. Consequently, utilisation of TZDs was much higher in Germany in 2007 compared with Denmark. For rosiglitazone, the drug warning had a significant impact on utilisation, reducing the number of DDD per 1000 insurees per day by -0.0105 in Denmark and -0.0312 in Germany (p-values <0.05). For pioglitazone, neither of the drug warnings had a significant effect on utilisation. The impact of EMA drug warnings differed across countries and might be mediated by information released through national reimbursement bodies and physician associations."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Increasing complexity of new drugs and modified approval procedures require a strengthening of information exchange between drug regulation bodies and physicians to ensure patient safety."

For more information on this research see: Drug safety and the impact of drug warnings: An interrupted time series analysis of diabetes drug prescriptions in Germany and Denmark. Health Policy, 2016;120(12):1404-1411. Health Policy can be contacted at: Elsevier Ireland Ltd, Elsevier House, Brookvale Plaza, East Park Shannon, Co, Clare, 00000, Ireland. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Health Policy - www.journals.elsevier.com/health-policy/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting G. Hostenkamp, Univ Southern Denmark, Dept. of Econ & Business, COHERE Center Hlth Econ Res, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark. Additional authors for this research include K.E. Fischer and K. Borch-Johnsen.

Keywords for this news article include: Odense, Denmark, Europe, Emerging Technologies, Drugs and Therapies, Time Series Analysis, Machine Learning, Diabetes, University of Southern Denmark.