Treatment Patterns in Men Prescribed Benign Prostatic Obstruction or Overactive Bladder Medications in Canada: A Retrospective Population-based Study.

Objective: To characterize first therapeutic change and healthcare resource utilization in older men initiating an overactive bladder (OAB) or benign prostatic obstruction (BPO) medication.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study using health administrative data from ICES in Ontario, Canada (from April 01, 2010 to December 31, 2018) was conducted in men aged ≥66 years with ≥1 OAB (β3 agonist, antimuscarinic) or BPO (α-blocker, 5-α-reductase inhibitor) prescription and ≥1-year postindex data (index=first observed dispensation).

Exclusions: prescriptions for these drugs ≤1 year preindex, a related procedure ≤5 years. Patients were grouped by condition based on index prescription. Treatment changes in relation to OAB and BPO were characterized by type. Costs and healthcare resource utilization pre- and post-index were compared.

Results: Age, geographic region, and income were similar between groups. The most common initial treatments were antimuscarinics (78.1%) in the OAB group and alpha-blockers (86.4%) in the BPO group. The OAB group was more likely to experience a therapeutic change and had a shorter time to first change in therapy (78 [30,231] vs 104 [30,350] days) and higher mean healthcare costs both pre- ($12,354 vs $11,497) and postindex ($14,423 vs $12,852). The most common first therapeutic change in both groups was discontinuing treatment (OAB: 75.6%; BPO: 69.9%).

Conclusion: Men initiating OAB medications changed therapy sooner than those initiating BPO medications. Most discontinued first-line therapy without initiating further treatment, suggesting unmet need in this population.