Brand name and generic proton pump inhibitor prescriptions in the United States: Insights from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (2006-2010)

Andrew J. Gawron, Joseph Feinglass, John E. Pandolfino, Bruce K. Tan, Michiel J. Bove, Stephanie Shintani-Smith*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Introduction. Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are one of the most commonly prescribed medication classes with similar efficacy between brand name and generic PPI formulations. Aims. We determined demographic, clinical, and practice characteristics associated with brand name PPI prescriptions at ambulatory care visits in the United States. Methods. Observational cross sectional analysis using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) of all adult (≥18 yrs of age) ambulatory care visits from 2006 to 2010. PPI prescriptions were identified by using the drug entry code as brand name only or generic available formulations. Descriptive statistics were reported in terms of unweighted patient visits and proportions of encounters with brand name PPI prescriptions. Global chi-square tests were used to compare visits with brand name PPI prescriptions versus generic PPI prescriptions for each measure. Poisson regression was used to determine the incidence rate ratio (IRR) for generic versus brand PPI prescribing. Results. A PPI was prescribed at 269.7 million adult ambulatory visits, based on 9,677 unweighted visits, of which 53% were brand name only prescriptions. In 2006, 76.0% of all PPI prescriptions had a brand name only formulation compared to 31.6% of PPI prescriptions in 2010. Visits by patients aged 25-44 years had the greatest proportion of brand name PPI formulations (57.9%). Academic medical centers and physician-owned practices had the greatest proportion of visits with brand name PPI prescriptions (58.9% and 55.6% of visits with a PPI prescription, resp.). There were no significant differences in terms of median income, patient insurance type, or metropolitan status when comparing the proportion of visits with brand name versus generic PPI prescriptions. Poisson regression results showed that practice ownership type was most strongly associated with the likelihood of receiving a brand name PPI over the entire study period. Compared to HMO visits, patient visits at academic medical centers (IRR 4.2, 95% CI 2.2-8.0), physician-owned practices (IRR 3.9, 95% CI 2.1-7.1), and community health centers (IRR 3.6, 95% CI 1.9-6.6) were all more likely to have brand name PPIs. Conclusion. PPI prescriptions with brand name only formulations are most strongly associated with physician practice type.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number689531
JournalGastroenterology Research and Practice
Volume2015
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Gastroenterology
  • Hepatology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Brand name and generic proton pump inhibitor prescriptions in the United States: Insights from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (2006-2010)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this