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Prescription trends of prophylactic antiemetics for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in Japan

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed at identifying prescription trends for the recommended antiemetic therapies before and after the publication of the first guidelines for antiemetic therapy in Japan.

Methods

Claims data of 20 Japanese health insurance societies were analyzed. Claims for patients 18 years old or older who received chemotherapy with high or moderate emetic risk were extracted. The rate of patients who were prescribed the recommended antiemetic drugs was calculated.

Results

From 2005 to 2011, prescriptions for prophylactic antiemetics increased. These prescriptions included the three-drug combination (an NK1 antagonist, a 5-HT3 antagonist, and a corticosteroid) and the two-drug combination (a 5-HT3 antagonist and a corticosteroid). For chemotherapy patients with high emetic risk, these prescriptions increased from 81.1 to 95.5 %. For those with moderate emetic risk, these prescriptions increased from 78.5 to 89.9 %. After approval of an NK1 antagonist at the end of 2009, the prescription rate for the three-drug combination increased from 37.0 % in 2010 to 60.1 % in 2011 in the high emetic risk group.

Conclusion

A gradual increasing trend was identified in the rate of prescribing antiemetic drugs from 2005 to 2011. This trend was observed in insurance claims data from a wide variety of health-care providers. However, only 60.1 % patients of the high emetic risk group received the recommended three-drug combination in 2011. Further research will be useful to evaluate patients’ experiences with their chemotherapy and the effectiveness of the prophylactic antiemetic therapy for cancer treatment and patients’ quality of life.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Japan Medical Data Center, Co., Ltd. for providing the insurance claims data. This work was supported by grants-in-aid for Clinical Cancer Research from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (H24-Gan-Rinsho-Wakate-003).

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Promotion Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

    Ayako Okuyama

  2. Department of Public Health/Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Fumiaki Nakamura

  3. Division of Cancer Health Services Research, Center for Cancer Control and Information Services, National Cancer Center, 5-1-1 Tsukiji Chuoh-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Ayako Okuyama, Fumiaki Nakamura & Takahiro Higashi

Authors
  1. Ayako Okuyama
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  2. Fumiaki Nakamura
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  3. Takahiro Higashi
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Correspondence to Takahiro Higashi.

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Okuyama, A., Nakamura, F. & Higashi, T. Prescription trends of prophylactic antiemetics for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in Japan. Support Care Cancer 22, 1789–1795 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2146-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2146-y

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