Profiles of 2-Drug Regimen in People Living with HIV-1 in A Real World Setting: A Large-Scale Medical Claim Database Analysis in Japan

Background Regimen simplification to 2-drug antiretroviral therapy (2-ART) may address potential tolerability issues, increase adherence, and reduce toxicity and potential drug-drug-interactions among people living with HIV-1 (PLWH). However, real-world treatment patterns and patient profiles associated with 2-ART are unclear. Methods This retrospective observational cohort study employed a large-scale medical claim database of Japanese hospitals to extract data on 4,293 PLWH aged ≥18 years with diagnosis of HIV and treated with any ART regimens between April 2008 and April 2019. A 2-ART cohort was compared with a 3-drug antiretroviral therapy (3-ART) cohort in terms of patient characteristics, comorbid conditions, and treatment patterns. Treatment switching rates were calculated for each cohort followed by sensitivity analysis to confirm the robustness of the findings.Results There were 94 patients identified in the 2-ART cohort. Compared to the standard 3-ART cohort (n=3,993), the 2-ART cohort was older (mean age 54.4 vs 43.4 years), with a lower proportion of males (87.2% vs 93.8%), higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) (mean score 6.9 vs 5.3), more co-medications (mean 8.3 vs 5.0), and a higher percentage of AIDS-defining conditions (66.0% vs 42.8%). The most common 2-ART were protease inhibitor (PI) + integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) + INSTI (33.0% and 31.9%, respectively). Overall, most of the regimens were nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI)-sparing (71.3%), with a decreasing trend over time (76.2% to 70.2%). ART regimen switch occurred more often in the 2-ART cohort than in the 3-ART cohort (33.0% vs 21.2%). Conclusion The profiles of patients on 2-ART in Japan were demonstrated to be complex. Most patients were treated with NRTI-sparing regimens which may reflect an effort to reduce treatment-related toxicities.

Changes in Glaucoma Medication during the Past Eight Years and Future Directions in Japan Based on an Insurance Medical Claim Database

Purpose. To investigate changes in the status of glaucoma care between 2006 and 2013 and to predict future directions of glaucoma care in Japan. Subjects and Methods. Japanese subjects registered in the largest national insurance claim database in Japan from 2006 to 2013 were analyzed. Estimations of the number of glaucoma patients during the past eight years and of the number of future patients were calculated. Changes in prescription trends among the same patients in the three-year period after initiating antiglaucoma medication were also investigated. Results. There was a total of 3,016,000 subjects in the database. The proportion of glaucoma patients increased consistently from 2.5% in 2006 to 4.5% in 2013. This trend was predicted to continue until 2025, followed by a constant decrease with age. The most frequently prescribed antiglaucoma medications were prostaglandin analogues (PGs); however, in recent years, fixed combination therapy has emerged as a major treatment. Among 2856 newly diagnosed glaucoma patients; 94.7% of the patients initially received a single medication, but 25% of the patients received additional medications within 3 years. Conclusions. The prevalence of glaucoma patients has significantly increased during the past eight years. The number of antiglaucoma medications continuously increased during the treatment period.