| Title | Sibutramine usage in New Zealand: an analysis of prescription data by the Intensive Medicines Monitoring Programme. | | Author(s) | Hill GR, Ashton J, Harrison-Woolrych M | | Institution | Intensive Medicines Monitoring Programme, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, P.O. Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand. | | Source | Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2007 Jul 30. | | Abstract | PURPOSE: To describe patterns of sibutramine usage in New Zealand during the first 3 years of marketing using data acquired during post-marketing safety surveillance.
METHODS: Demographic and prescription data were examined from a nationwide cohort of 17 298 patients prescribed sibutramine between 1 February 2001 and 31 March 2004. Outcome measures were age and sex distribution of the cohort; period prevalence of sibutramine usage for each ethnic group; duration of treatment and reasons for cessation of therapy. Limited BMI data were also examined.
RESULTS: About 0.5% of the NZ population were prescribed sibutramine in the period studied. Overwhelmingly, the highest users of sibutramine were NZ European women aged 30-59 years. Maori and Pacific Peoples were under-represented in the cohort, despite the higher prevalence of obesity among these populations. Sibutramine usage was predominantly short-term: 59% of the cohort used sibutramine for 90 days or less, half of whom used it for only 1 month.
CONCLUSIONS: There has been extensive use of sibutramine in New Zealand. Sibutramine has been relatively under-utilised by Maori and Pacific ethnic groups, compared to New Zealand Europeans, despite their higher prevalence of obesity. A number of factors may have contributed to the predominantly short-term use of this medicine, including the cost of the medicine to the consumer, weight loss not meeting expectations and adverse effects of the medicine. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. | | Language | ENG | | Pub Type(s) | JOURNAL ARTICLE
| | PubMed ID | 17661435 |
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