Assessment and effect of a gap between new-onset epilepsy diagnosis and treatment in the US.

Neurology

From UCB Pharma (L.K.), Raleigh, NC; Department of Neurology (E.F., D.J.T.), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; Department of Neurology (H.K.), Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA; IQVIA (C.B., A.S.), Fairfax, VA; UCB Pharma (S.L.), Smyrna, GA; UCB Pharma (D.F.), Ascot, Berkshire, UK; UCB Pharma (K.H.), Monheim am Rhein, Germany; and FV & JK Consulting Ltd. (V.K.), Guildford, Surrey, UK. S.L. is currently employed by Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Durham, NC.

Published: May 2019

Objective: To estimate the treatment gap between a new epilepsy diagnosis and antiepileptic drug (AED) initiation in the United States.

Methods: Retrospective claims-based cohort study using Truven Health MarketScan databases (commercial and supplemental Medicare, calendar years 2010-2015; Medicaid, 2010-2014) and a validation study using PharMetrics Plus Database linked to LRx claims database (2009-2014). Persons met epilepsy diagnostic criteria, had an index date (first epilepsy diagnosis) with a preceding 2-year baseline (1 year for persons aged 1 to <2 years; none for persons <1 year), and continuous medical and pharmacy enrollment without epilepsy/seizure diagnosis or AED prescription during baseline. Outcomes included percentage of untreated persons (no AED prescription) up to 3 years' follow-up and comparative outcomes (incidence rate ratio: untreated persons/treated persons), including medical events and health care resource utilization.

Results: In the primary study, 59,970 persons met selection (or inclusion) criteria; 36.7% of persons with newly diagnosed epilepsy remained untreated up to 3 years after diagnosis. In the validation study (N = 30,890), 31.8% of persons remained untreated up to 3 years after diagnosis. Lack of AED treatment was associated with an adjusted incidence rate ratio (95% confidence interval) of 1.2 (1.2-1.3) for medical events, 2.3 (2.2-2.3) for hospitalizations, and 2.8 (2.7-2.9) for emergency department visits.

Conclusions: One-third of newly diagnosed persons remain untreated up to 3 years after epilepsy diagnosis. The increased risk of medical events and health care utilization highlights the consequences of delayed treatment after epilepsy diagnosis, which might be preventable.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6537131PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000007448DOI Listing

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