Yearly Trends of Overactive Bladder Medication Usage

Anticholinergics are associated with cognitive side effects and dementia. Agents such as trospium, fesoterodine and darifenacin have been shown to be less likely to cross the blood-brain barrier. Furthermore, in 2012, mirabegron was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the first beta-3 adrenoreceptor agonist to treat overactive bladder (OAB). This study aims to examine prescribing patterns of OAB medications in the United States over time.

The 2013-2017 Medicare Part D Public Use File was used to identify prescribers of OAB medications including oxybutynin, tolterodine, trospium, darifenacin, solifenacin, fesoterodine and mirabegron. The number of claims and total annual expenditure for each medication for all prescribers, nonurologists and urologists were analyzed from 2013 to 2017.

Oxybutynin was consistently the most prescribed OAB medication each year, comprising 53.9% of all OAB medication prescriptions in 2017. From 2013 to 2017, mirabegron claims increased from 140,401 to 1,617,439, making it the second most prescribed OAB medication. Solifenacin usage decreased each year. Trospium, darifenacin and fesoterodine were the least prescribed agents each year. These trends were similar for those ≥65 years old. Total annual expenditure for mirabegron increased yearly, and it had the highest total expenditure of OAB medications, with $658.6 million in 2017.

Oxybutynin was consistently the most prescribed OAB medication every year. Mirabegron utilization steadily increased each year. Anticholinergic medications associated with fewer cognitive adverse effects, such as trospium, darifenacin and fesoterodine, were among the least prescribed.