Impressive Presenter

PHOP PhD Candidate Earla Honored with Student Best Podium Award for Study of Oral Medication Prescribing for MS at ISPOR 2019

June 6 — A UHCOP Ph.D. candidate's study into the prescribing factors associated with the choice of dosage form for multiple sclerosis patients drew one of three Best Podium – Student Poster Research Presentation awards at the ISPOR 2019 International Meeting May 18-22 in New Orleans. 

Three oral disease modifying agents (DMAs) have been approved by the FDA for management of MS symptoms since 2010, but little is known about the determining factors in clinicians' choice to prescribe oral DMAs in favor of, or in conjunction with, other dosage forms, such as injectable agents. Patient preferences toward specific dosage forms may affect their adherence to the prescribed medication and ultimately their health outcomes.  

Using the TriNetX electronic health records network of more than 25 million patients, Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy doctoral program Jagadesh Rao Earla, Pharm.D., MBA, identified a study group of approximately 20,000 MS patients based on MS diagnostic code or MS-specific DMA precription. 

Earla's analyses revealed that the largest patient segments were age 45-64, female and Caucasian, and more than 75 percent of MS patients had at least one additional chronic disease or condition present. Only about one quarter of MS patients were prescribed oral DMAs vs. injectable DMAs, with men and African-Americans more likely to receive oral DMAs.

The study results revealed both clinical and demographic factors associated with oral DMA prescriptions, but the authors indicated further research was needed to determine the decision-making rationale used and the associated outcomes of DMA prescribing patterns.

Study coauthors were Baylor College of Medicine neurologist George J. Hutton, M.D., and UHCOP faculty members J. Douglas Thornton, Ph.D., Pharm.D., BCPS, and Rajender R. Aparasu, Ph.D., FAPhA.