International Journal of COPD (Sep 2020)
Gender Differences in Inhaled Pharmacotherapy Utilization in Patients with Obstructive Airway Diseases (OADs): A Population-Based Study
Abstract
Joseph Emil Amegadzie,1 John-Michael Gamble,2 Jamie Farrell,1 Zhiwei Gao1 1Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland, Canada; 2Faculty of Science, School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaCorrespondence: Zhiwei GaoFaculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, CanadaTel +1 7098646523Email [email protected]: Gender differences in the incidence, susceptibility and severity of many obstructive airway diseases (OADs) have been well recognized. However, gender differences in the inhaled pharmacotherapy profile are not well characterized.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to investigate gender differences in new-users of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), short-or long-acting beta2-agonist (SABA or LABA), ICS/LABA, short-or long-acting muscarinic antagonist (SAMA or LAMA) among patients with asthma, COPD or asthma-COPD overlap (ACO). We used Clinical Practice Research Datalink to identify OAD patients, 18 years and older, who were new-users (1-year washout period) from 01-January-1998 to 31-July-2018. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine gender differences in each of the inhaled pharmacotherapies after controlling for potential confounders.Results: A total of 242,079 new-users (asthma: 84.93%; COPD: 10.19%; ACO: 4.88%) of inhaled pharmacotherapies were identified. The multivariable analyses showed that males with COPD were more likely to be a new user of a LABA (odds ratio [OR] 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12– 1.49), LAMA (OR 1.21; 95% CI 1.10– 1.33), SAMA (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.01– 1.21) and less likely to be a new user of a SABA (OR 0.84; 95% CI, 0.80– 0.89) compared to females. Similar patterns were also observed for patients with ACO; males were more likely to be prescribed with LABA (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.03– 1.55), LAMA (OR 1.28; 95% CI 1.11– 1.48), SAMA (OR 1.28; 95% CI 1.11– 1.48), and less likely to be a new user of a SABA (OR 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82– 0.96). Also, males with asthma were more likely to be a new-user of ICS/LABA (OR 1.15; 95% CI, 1.08– 1.23) and less likely to start an ICS (OR 0.97; 95% CI, 0.95– 0.99) in comparison with females.Conclusion: Our study showed significant gender differences in new-users of inhaled pharmacotherapies among OAD patients. Adjusting for proxies of disease severity, calendar year, smoking and socioeconomic status did not change the association by gender.Keywords: inhaled pharmacotherapies, asthma, COPD, asthma-COPD overlap, gender, drug utilization
