Special to DG News STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — —
Physicians are more likely to choose Celebrex® (celecoxib) over other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for treatment of patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). This bias in favour of celecoxib may impact on the results of observational studies examining the link between COX-2 inhibitors and CVD.
The study was presented here this week at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR). The investigators, led by Dr. Sean Z. Zhao from Global Health Outcomes, Pharmacia, Peapack, United States performed a cross-sectional study of an employer claims database called LifeLink®, which contains health information on approximately 1.8 million employees, dependents, and retirees.
The researchers analyzed data on patients who started therapy with celecoxib, ibuprophen, naproxen, or diclofenac between June 1999 and June 2000 and who had stable antihypertensive therapy in the 90-day period prior to starting therapy. Overall, the researchers identified 20,915 patients on celecoxib, 10,789 on ibuprofen, 8,840 on naproxen, and 1,900 on diclofenac.
Compared to the other NSAID users, those taking celecoxib were more likely to be older, and they were significantly more likely to have histories of myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic heart disease, heart failure, CVD, other heart disease, pulmonary circulatory disease, diabetes, or acute renal failure. Moreover, significantly more patients on celecoxib had used the healthcare system in the year prior to starting therapy than those taking the other drugs.
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