title: Prescribing patterns of anti-migraine medicines in South Africa using a claims database.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Migraine is an expensive condition impacting on the economically active sector of the population. Given the expense of anti-migraine medicine, it is important to monitor the impact of generic prescribing and therapeutic substitution.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim was to analyse the prescribing patterns and cost of anti-migraine medicines to determine the impact of generic prescribing and prescribing changes over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective drug utilisation study was conducted on South African private sector medical insurance claims data for 2011. Results A total of 797 patients received 1583 anti-migraine medicines during 2011. The majority of patients (70.14 %) were females. The average age of patients was 41.61 (SD = 14.91) years. Clonidine was the most frequently prescribed (49.21 % of prescribing frequency; 25.70 % of cost), followed by the triptans [selective serotonin (5-HT1B/1D)-receptor agonists] (27.98 % of prescribing frequency; 45.92 % of cost). Five triptans were prescribed. The average cost per sumatriptan prescription was the lowest (the only triptan with generic equivalents). Rizatriptan was the most frequently prescribed triptan (18.51 % of prescribing frequency; 29.15 % of cost).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results were generally in agreement with previous South African studies. The impact of the introduction of newer triptans and of generic equivalents on prescribing patterns was clear.
authors.affiliation: Drug Utilization Research Unit (DURU), Department of Pharmacy, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa, ilse.truter@nmmu.ac.za.
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Truter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003000:Clonidine / Q000191:economics; D016208:Databases, Factual; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000191:economics; D013019:South Africa; D018170:Sumatriptan / Q000191:economics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016568:Drugs, Generic; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D018170:Sumatriptan; D003000:Clonidine