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Dharan NJ, Radovich T, Che S, Petoumenos K, Juneja P, Law M, Huang R, McManus H, Polizzotto MN, Guy R, Cronin P, Cooper DA, Gray RT. Comorbidity Medications Are Dispensed to More People Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV Compared with the General Population in Australia. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2020; 36:291-296. [PMID: 31838857 DOI: 10.1089/aid.2019.0117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Medical comorbidities occur in more persons with HIV than without HIV. We used a nationally representative 10% sample of 2016 Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) dispensing data to compare the proportions of antiretroviral therapy (ART)-purchasing and non-ART-purchasing patients who also purchased prescriptions for medical comorbidities. Each patient who purchased ART was compared with two gender- and age group-matched patients who did not purchase ART in the same year. We calculated the proportions of patients who also purchased coprescriptions used for hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, cancer, low bone mineral density, and mental health, defined using PBS medication coding categories, and the resulting odds ratios. A total of 1,973 ART-purchasing patients in our sample were matched to 3,946 non-ART-purchasing patients. Compared with non-ART-purchasing patients, a greater proportion of ART-purchasing patients also purchased medications for dyslipidemia (19.8% vs. 16.6%; p-value = .003), low bone mineral density (1.5% vs. 0.8%; p-value = .02), and mental health (29.1% vs. 15.3%; p-value < .0001); a lower proportion purchased diabetes medications (4.8% vs. 6.5%; p-value = .009). These differences remained when our analysis was restricted to persons >55 years of age. Rates of multimorbidity (dispensed ≥2 medications for chronic conditions) were also higher among ART-purchasing patients (19.0% vs. 15.9%; p-value = .003). Using a nationally representative sample of prescription dispensing data, we found that higher proportions of ART-purchasing patients purchased coprescriptions for common comorbidities compared with non-ART-purchasing patients. Our finding that ART-purchasing patients purchased fewer diabetes medications is surprising, but may reflect differences in population characteristics between our two groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nila J. Dharan
- Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Tomas Radovich
- Prospection Pty Ltd, Eveleigh, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Samuel Che
- Prospection Pty Ltd, Eveleigh, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Kathy Petoumenos
- Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Matthew Law
- Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Robin Huang
- Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Hamish McManus
- Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Rebecca Guy
- Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Peter Cronin
- Prospection Pty Ltd, Eveleigh, New South Wales, Australia
| | - David A. Cooper
- Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Richard T. Gray
- Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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