title: Medication patterns in chronic spontaneous urticaria: results from a nationwide investigation in the primary care setting in Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Only a few studies have assessed treatment usage in clinical practice among patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU).
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim of this study was to evaluate patterns of medications used for CSU, analyzing the electronic patient records contained in the Italian general practice Health Search IMS Health Longitudinal Patient Database (HSD). The study period was from January 2002 to December 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most frequent prescriptions during the year following CSU diagnosis were H1-antihistamines (78.47%) and corticosteroids (49.20%). Different medications were given to a limited number of CSU patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our study have shown that H1-antihistamines were the most prescribed drugs to treat CSU, reflecting their role as the mainstay of CSU treatment. Systemic corticosteroids continue to be frequently prescribed for CSU in clinical practice. Alternative drugs were used only in very few patients, suggesting the possibility that severe refractory cases of CSU are undertreated in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Private Practitioner, Bari and Barletta, Italy - ginovena@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gino A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Vena
authors.affiliation: Private Practitioner, Bari and Barletta, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cassano
authors.affiliation: IMS Health Information Solutions Medical Research Srl, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pegoraro
authors.affiliation: IMS Health Information Solutions Medical Research Srl, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Nazarena
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cataldo
authors.affiliation: IMS Health Information Solutions Medical Research Srl, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Heiman
authors.affiliation: Health Search, Italian College of General Practitioners and Primary Care, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Iacopo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cricelli
authors.affiliation: Novartis Farma S.p.A, Origgio, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Delia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.affiliation: Novartis Farma S.p.A, Origgio, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zagni
authors.affiliation: Italian College of General Practitioners and Primary Care, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cricelli
authors.affiliation: Health Search, Italian College of General Practitioners and Primary Care, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lapi
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016208:Databases, Factual; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014581:Urticaria / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists