Antiseizure medication treatment pathways for US Medicare beneficiaries with newly treated epilepsy.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

This study was undertaken to characterize antiseizure medication (ASM) treatment pathways in Medicare beneficiaries with newly treated epilepsy.

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study using Medicare claims. Medicare is the United States' federal health insurance program for people aged 65 years and older plus younger people with disabilities or end-stage renal disease. We included beneficiaries with newly treated epilepsy (International Classification of Diseases codes for epilepsy/convulsions 2014-2017, no ASM in the previous 2 years). We displayed the sequence of ASM fills using sunburst plots overall, then stratified by mood disorder, age, and neurologist prescriber. We tabulated drug costs for each pathway.

Results

We included 21 458 beneficiaries

SUBMITTER: Terman SW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9314094 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature