Frequency of serum creatinine monitoring during allopurinol therapy in ambulatory patients.
BACKGROUND
Allopurinol dosage reduction is recommended in patients with renal dysfunction because drug toxicity risk is increased. Little information is available about serum creatinine (SCr) monitoring in ambulatory patients taking allopurinol.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate SCr monitoring among patients prescribed allopurinol, identify associated factors, and evaluate administrative data in assessing monitoring.


METHODS
Information for this retrospective cohort study was drawn from a dataset of 2 020 037 individuals; approximately 200 000 members from each of 10 organizations. Study patients had received at least one year of ongoing allopurinol prescription dispensings. Patient variables analyzed included age, gender, chronic diseases, outpatient visits, hospitalizations, gout diagnosis, and SCr monitoring. A random sample of medical records was reviewed to assess the accuracy of the automated data. Statistical analysis included descriptive and logistic regression techniques.


RESULTS
Overall, 1139 (26%) of 4357 patients did not have SCr monitoring. For individuals without recent hospitalization, factors protective against lack of monitoring were increasing age (OR 0.77 per 10 y; 95% CI 0.74 to 0.79), more chronic diseases (OR 0.81; 95% CI 0.78 to 0.83), more outpatient visits (OR 0.87 per 5 visits; 95% CI 0.83 to 0.91), and gout diagnosis (OR 0.74; 95% CI 0.65 to 0.85). The sensitivity and specificity of administrative data compared with medical records for SCr monitoring were 92% and 65%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
More than one-fourth of patients dispensed allopurinol did not have SCr monitoring during one year of therapy. Lack of monitoring and lack of subsequent possible dosage adjustment put patients at increased risk of allopurinol toxicity.
Raebel
Marsha A
MA
Kaiser Permanente of Colorado Clinical Research Unit and School of Pharmacy, University of Colorado at Denver, 80237, USA. Marsha.A.Raebel@kp.org
McClure
David L
DL
Simon
Steven R
SR
Chan
K Arnold
KA
Feldstein
Adrianne C
AC
Gunter
Margaret J
MJ
Lafata
Jennifer Elston
JE
Harrold
Leslie
L
Nelson
Winnie W
WW
Platt
Richard
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000493:Allopurinol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006074:Gout Suppressants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D006074:Gout Suppressants; D000493:Allopurinol; D003404:Creatinine