High adherence to the calcimimetic cinacalcet may reduce the risk for future hospitalizations in dialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT), Italian investigators suggest.
Alessandro Roggeri, BSc, of ProCure Solutions in Nembro, Italy, and colleagues stratified 994 patients from the Lombardy Health Care System (mean age 63 years, 44% female) taking cinacalcet for at least 12 months by their level of medication adherence: less than 64.1%, 64.1% to 91.5%, and more than 91.5% of the time (low, intermediate, and high, respectively).
High cinacalcet adherers had significant 19.2%, 23.8%, and 32.3% fewer hospitalizations for all causes, cardiovascular disease, and sepsis, respectively, than low adherers, the investigators reported in Drugs in Context. High cinacalcet adherers also had a nonsignificant 37.1% fewer hospitalizations for fracture than low adherers.
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According to the researchers’ analysis, the increase in costs for routine cinacalcet use in Lombardy, Italy, would be almost offset by the reduction in costs for hospitalizations.
While the study is limited by its observational design, results of the analysis “suggest that there may be some correlation between a high level of cinacalcet adherence and a decrease in hospitalisations,” Roggeri’s team wrote.
Disclosure: Several study authors declared affiliations with the pharmaceutical industry. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.
Reference
Roggeri A, Conte F, Rossi C, et al. Cinacalcet adherence in dialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism in Lombardy Region: clinical implications and costs [March 27, 2020]. Drugs in Context. 9:2020-1-1. doi: 10.7573/dic.2020-1-1
