New use of rosiglitazone decreased following publication of a meta-analysis suggesting harm.
OBJECTIVE
It is uncertain whether meta-analyses lead to changes in prescribing practices. We studied trends in the prescribing of glucose-lowering therapy before and after the publication of a meta-analysis suggesting harm from rosiglitazone.


METHODS
We examined the prescription records of all residents of Ontario, Canada, aged > or = 66 years. For each week between January and December 2007, we identified new users of five categories of glucose-lowering medications: rosiglitazone, pioglitazone, metformin, glibenclamide (glyburide) and insulin. The effect of the meta-analysis was assessed using interventional autoregressive integrated moving-average models.


RESULTS
Following the release of the meta-analysis, there was a sudden decline in new users of rosiglitazone (P = 0.01), mirrored by a nearly identical but transient increase in new users of pioglitazone (P < 0.001). There was also a net decline in new users of thiazolidinediones as a class (P < 0.001). The number of new users of other glucose-lowering medications did not change.


CONCLUSIONS
A highly-publicized meta-analysis regarding rosiglitazone's potential harms led to an abrupt decline in new users of the drug, as well as a transient surge in new use of pioglitazone.
Shah
B R
BR
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada.
Juurlink
D N
DN
Austin
P C
PC
Mamdani
M M
MM
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D000077154:Rosiglitazone; D045162:Thiazolidinediones / Q000009:adverse effects*
D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D045162:Thiazolidinediones; D000077154:Rosiglitazone