Ophthalmic nepafenac use in the Netherlands and Denmark

To describe nepafenac use in the Netherlands and Denmark with reference to its approved indications. For context, we also describe the use of ketorolac and diclofenac.

We identified users in the PHARMO Database Network (the Netherlands, 2008-2013) and the Danish national health registers (Denmark, 1994-2014). We described prevalence of cataract surgery and duration of use in patients with cataract surgery with and without diabetes.

In the Netherlands, 9530 nepafenac users (mean age, 71 years; 60% women) contributed 12 691 therapy episodes, of which 21% had a recently recorded cataract surgery. Of 2266 episodes in adult non-diabetic patients with cataract surgery, 60% had one bottle dispensed (treatment duration ≤21 days). Of 441 episodes in adult diabetic patients with cataract surgery, 90% had up to two bottles dispensed (≤60 days). Denmark had 60 403 nepafenac users (mean age, 72 years; 58% women) and 73 648 episodes (41% had recorded cataract surgery). Of 26 649 nepafenac episodes in adult non-diabetic patients with cataract surgery, 92% had one bottle dispensed. Of 3801 episodes in adult diabetic patients with cataract surgery, 99.8% had up to two bottles dispensed. Use patterns of nepafenac, ketorolac and diclofenac were roughly similar in the Netherlands, but not in Denmark.

Less than half of therapy episodes were related to cataract surgery; around 90% of episodes with surgery were within the approved duration. Underrecording of ophthalmic conditions and procedures was a challenge in this study.