Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine Reports Findings in Epilepsy (Prescription trends in anti-seizure medications for adult patients with epilepsy in Japan: A retrospective cohort study using the database of health insurance claims …): Central Nervous System Diseases and Conditions – Epilepsy

2022 AUG 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Central Nervous System Diseases and Conditions - Epilepsy is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating in Miyagi, Japan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To investigate whether newer anti-seizure medications (ASMs) are widely prescribed for a range of adult patients in Japan, including patients with previously and newly diagnosed epilepsy, or with focal and generalized epilepsies. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the Japanese insurance claims database including 8.4 million people to identify adults ( 16 years of age) with epilepsy diagnosis code identified between January 2015 and December 2018.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, “Patients were included in the prevalent population if epilepsy was already diagnosed at baseline, and in the incident population if prior baseline data for at least 12 months included no epilepsy diagnosis code or ASM prescription. Patients were followed up from the month when the initial oral ASM was prescribed for up to 4 years until the end of 2019 as long as at least one ASM was prescribed. Proportions of prescribed oral ASMs were analyzed by population with epilepsy (prevalent vs. incident) and classification (focal vs. generalized). Anti-seizure medications were classified into older vs. newer ASMs according to the date of approval before and after 1990, respectively. A total of 24,691 patients fulfilled the eligibility criteria for the analysis. Of these, 21,046 and 3,645 were included in the prevalent and incident populations, respectively. The proportion of older ASMs significantly decreased, whereas the proportion of newer ASMs significantly increased (p < 0.0001) during the study period. This trend was more apparent in the population with incident epilepsy than in that with prevalent epilepsy, and was also apparent in the subgroup of focal epilepsy, but not in that of generalized epilepsy. Levetiracetam was the most frequently prescribed of the newer ASMs. Newer ASMs became more widely prescribed throughout the study period in populations with both prevalent and incident epilepsies, as well as the subpopulation with focal epilepsy.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The advantages of newer ASMs such as better safety profiles may have led to the increasing proportions of prescriptions and newer ASMs may increase the treatment options for patients.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Prescription trends in anti-seizure medications for adult patients with epilepsy in Japan: A retrospective cohort study using the database of health insurance claims between 2015 and 2019. Epilepsy & Behavior, 2022;134:108841. Epilepsy & Behavior can be contacted at: Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science, 525 B St, Ste 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Kazutaka Jin, Dept. of Epileptology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. Additional authors for this research include Taku Obara, Kyoko Hirano, Daichi Hirai, Masatoshi Kiuchi, Takeshi Tanaka and Nobukazu Nakasato.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108841. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

The publisher of the journal Epilepsy & Behavior can be contacted at: Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science, 525 B St, Ste 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA.

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