Adherence and Persistence to Acne Medications: A Population-Based Claims Database Analysis

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Pharmacoeconomics
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Acne treatment adherence and persistence are often poor, especially with long-term topical therapies.
• Understanding how newly diagnosed acne patients utilize their medications is not well-established.
• Adherence involves obtaining and using medication as prescribed; persistence is the duration of use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate medication adherence and persistence in patients newly diagnosed with acne.
• To analyze treatment patterns and duration in a large cohort of acne patients.

Main Methods:

• Utilized United States Truven Health MarketScan® claims data from 2008-2011.
• Identified newly diagnosed acne patients using ICD-9-CM code 706.1.
• Assessed adherence via Medication Possession Ratio (MPR) and persistence at 12 months.

Main Results:

• Analyzed 230,552 patients aged 12+ who filled an initial acne medication prescription.
• 70.3% of patients achieved an MPR of ≥0.8, indicating high adherence in obtaining medication.
• Only 1.85% of patients demonstrated persistence with their initial acne medication at 12 months.

Conclusions:

• Despite high medication possession ratios, persistence with initial acne treatments is notably low.
• Patients may obtain medications but not use them consistently, impacting long-term outcomes.
• Enhancing patient engagement with acne treatments is vital for improving therapeutic results.