Analysis of changes in pharmacotherapy of stable angina over the five-year period at specialized out-patient level of medical care (pharmacoepidemiological study)

Introduction: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains the leading cause of death both in Europe and in Russia. The most common form of IHD is stable angina. There is compelling evidence that strict adherence to clinical guidelines greatly contributes to mortality reduction. However, the gap between modern knowledge and use of guideline-recommended medications remains significant. As shown by Western practice, one of the possible solutions of this problem is regular conduction of pharmacoepidemiological studies. Objective: Investigate the dynamics of drug prescription rates in patients with stable angina over the five-year period on the example of routine clinical practice of outpatient cardiology institution of Moscow for the purpose of further eliminating the prescribing gap for guideline recommended pharmacological strategies. Materials and methods: Our research work was performed as a retrospective pharmacoepidemiological study including two stages with five-year interval using cross-section method. Results and discussion: We found a significant increase in use of antiplatelets (82.7 vs. 56.2%, p<0.05) and statins (45.6 vs. 16.1%, p<0.05). Despite the unchanged use of ACE inhibitors, the prescription rate of angiotensin receptor blockers II increased (14.7 vs. 9.7%, p<0.05). Analysis of anti-ischemic pharmacotherapy revealed an increase in beta-adrenoblockers use (74.3 vs. 63.6%, р<0.05) and a decrease in use of long-acting nitrates (26.3 vs. 31.1%, р<0.05) and calcium channel blockers (35.7 vs. 39.6%, р<0.05). Significant changes were found in prescription rates and dosage regimens of single medications in each pharmacological group. The study results demonstrated an increase in frequency of capturing data on lipid profile and diet recommendations in patient records. Conclusion: Such type of pharmacoepidemiological study carried out for the first time made it possible to investigate the dynamics of specialists' adherence to guidelines of stable angina pharmacotherapy in routine outpatient clinical practice.