Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32600343›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2020

Impact of a health alert and its implementation on flutamide prescriptions for women: an interrupted time series analysis.

Raquel Vázquez-Mourelle, Eduardo Carracedo-Martínez, Adolfo Figueiras

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Raquel Vázquez-MourelleDeputy Directorate-General Galician Health Service (Servicio Gallego de Salud - SERGAS), Galicia Regional Authority, Edificio Administrativo San Lázaro s/n, 15703, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. raquel.vazquez.mourelle@sergas.es.
Eduardo Carracedo-MartínezSantiago de Compostela Health Area Authority, Galician Health Service, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.
Adolfo FigueirasDepartment of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública - CIBERESP), Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOff-label drug use among ambulatory patients is often based on little or no scientific support. This paper reports the impact of a health warning about the risks of off-label flutamide use by women and the actions subsequently implemented by the public health service targeting such use.

methodThe study was undertaken in a region in north-west Spain. We designed a segmented regression model of an interrupted time series, in which the dependent variable was the monthly value of defined daily doses of flutamide per 1000 inhabitants/day (DDD/TID), both total and stratified by sex. The following two data sources were used: flutamide prescriptions billed to the Spanish National Health Service; and flutamide deliveries made by wholesale drug distributors to pharmacies. The intervention assessed consisted of the issue of an official health warning and the actions subsequently taken to implement it.

resultsThere was an immediate reduction of 49.33% in DDD/TID billed to the Spanish National Health Service in respect of women; the mean value of the population percentage of DDD/TID of flutamide billed in respect of women fell from 34.4% pre-intervention to 23.72% post-intervention. There was an immediate reduction of 19.92% (95%CI: 6.68-33.15%) in total DDD/TID invoiced. There were no significant changes in DDD/TID billed in respect of men or in flutamide use in the private medical sector.

conclusionsOff-label drug misuse is a reality among ambulatory patients, even after actions are implemented following a toxicity warning issued by the competent Health Authority.

Indexed as

Drug LabelingAmbulatory CareDrug PrescriptionsFemaleFlutamideHumansInterrupted Time Series AnalysisOff-Label UsePrescription Drug MisuseSpainState MedicineFlutamideDrug misuseFlutamideOff-label usePatient safety

Identifiers

PMID32600343
PMCPMC7325013

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.