Impact of compliance with proton pump inhibitors on NSAID treatment

To assess the impact of patient compliance with proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) treatment duration and upper-gastrointestinal (GI) complications in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Retrospective cohort study.

Study subjects were GERD patients receiving cotherapy with a PPI and a cyclooxygenase-2-selective (COX-2-selective) or nonselective NSAID. Patients compliant and noncompliant with PPI therapy were compared on NSAID treatment duration and incidence of upper-GI events. Kaplan-Meier analysis and a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model were used to compare durations of NSAID treatment, controlling for baseline characteristics. The incidences of GI events were compared using incidence rate and Poisson regression models. The analyses were conducted separately for patients taking COX-2-selective NSAIDs and those taking nonselective NSAIDs.

In both patient groups taking a COX-2-selective agent (n = 12,562; 70.9% compliant) and nonselective NSAID (n = 17,487; 69.9% compliant), mean NSAID treatment duration was significantly longer (84.0 days and 20.8 days longer, respectively) in PPI-compliant patients than in noncompliant patients. Compliance with PPI therapy was associated with a greater reduction in the incidence of GI events than noncompliance in both patients taking a COX-2-selective NSAID (6-fold vs 5-fold; P = .026) and patients taking a nonselective NSAID (8-fold vs 6-fold; P = .002).

In GERD patients receiving NSAIDs, those who were compliant with PPI therapy had a longer NSAID treatment duration and better GI tolerability than those who were noncompliant.