Diagnosed and Drug-Treated Prevalence of Essential Tremor in Adult Patients: Retrospective Analyses of Two US Healthcare Claims Databases
Ragy Saad1, Michael Markowitz2, Liza Gibbs3, Douglas Fuller1, Weiyi Ni1, Rajesh Pahwa4, Kelly Lyons4, Michelle Baladi1, Junji Lin1
1Jazz Pharmaceuticals, 2Former employee of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, 3Aetion Inc, 4University of Kansas Medical Center
Objective:
To estimate the prevalence of diagnosed and drug-treated essential tremor (ET) in the adult population using two US healthcare claims databases.
Background:
ET is a chronic, heterogeneous, and progressive neurological disorder that can impact activities of daily living. Few epidemiological studies describe the prevalence of diagnosed or drug-treated ET in the US.
Design/Methods:
A retrospective cohort study was conducted using Merative™ MarketScan® Research Databases (MarketScan®) and Symphony Integrated Dataverse (IDV®) (01/01/2016–12/31/2019) to estimate the number of US adults (age ≥18 years) with ET. ET diagnosis was defined as ≥2 medical claims containing ICD-10-CM code G25.0 ≥1 and ≤365 days apart. Patients with drug-treated ET were defined as those with ≥180 days of observability following ET diagnosis who subsequently received any ET medication in 2019. Age-adjusted prevalence was used to estimate the number of US adults with diagnosed and drug-treated ET.
Results:
Estimated age-adjusted numbers (95% CIs) of US adults diagnosed with ET were 782,800 (770,666–795,119) and 525,115 (522,893–527,457) using MarketScan and IDV, respectively. The majority of those diagnosed with ET also received pharmacological treatment for ET. Specifically, the estimated proportions (95% CIs) of adult patients with ET who were drug-treated were 73.8% (73.1%–74.4%) and 74.8% (74.6%–75.0%), respectively. Estimated age-adjusted numbers (95% CIs) of adult patients with drug-treated ET were 588,489 (578,043–599,067) and 391,680 (389,570–393,668), respectively. Beta-blockers (64% and 61%, respectively) and anticonvulsants (53% and 61%, respectively) were the most common drug classes prescribed among those treated. The most frequently prescribed beta-blocker and anticonvulsant were propranolol (41% and 35%, respectively) and primidone (27% and 32%, respectively).
Conclusions:
ET affects many US adults, most of whom are treated. Many patients receive regimens not indicated as first-line for ET, suggesting the need for novel therapies indicated for this condition.