title: Medication use by early-stage breast cancer survivors: a 1-year longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to characterize the patterns of medication use by early-stage breast cancer (ESBC) survivors from diagnosis to 1 year post-chemotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single-center longitudinal study was conducted with ESBC patients diagnosed between December 2011 and June 2014. Data on the medication use of individual patients were retrieved from prescription databases, supplemented by records from the National Electronic Health Records. The data covered the period from ESBC diagnosis to 1 year post-chemotherapy. Medication types were classified according to the World Health Organization's Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system, and medication for chronic diseases was created by adapting a list of 20 chronic diseases provided by the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 107 patients involved in the study (mean age 51.1 ± 8.4 years; 78.5 % Chinese), 46.7 % manifested non-cancer comorbidities, of which hypertension (24.3 %) was the most prevalent, followed by hyperlipidemia (13.1 %) and diabetes (5.6 %). Calcium channel blockers (12.1 %) and lipid-modifying agents (11.2 %) were the most common chronic medication types used before chemotherapy, and their use persisted during chemotherapy (10.3 and 11.2 %, respectively) and after chemotherapy (11.2 and 13.1 %, respectively). Hormonal therapy was the predominant post-chemotherapy medication (77.6 %). A statistically significant increase (p < 0.0001) was observed in the mean number of chronic disease medication classes prescribed to patients between the pre-chemotherapy (0.53 ± 1.04) and chemotherapy (0.62 ± 1.08) periods and between the chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (1.63 ± 1.35) periods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is an increase in trend of chronic medication usage in breast cancer survivors after cancer treatment. This study provides important insights into the design of medication management programs tailored to this population. Future studies should incorporate a control population to improve the interpretation of study results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Kep Yong
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore.|Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Block S4, 18 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore.
authors.forename: Terence
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Chee Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore. phaac@nus.edu.sg.|Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Block S4, 18 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore. phaac@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D017741:Survivors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Cancer survivor; Chemotherapy; Early-stage breast cancer; Medication management; Medication use