Background: Immunomodulator medications (IMM) play a vital role in the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD practice guidelines recommend myelosuppression monitoring after initiation of IMM.
Aim: To identify adherence rates and predictors of myelosuppression monitoring after IMM initiation in a large practice setting.
Methods: We identified a national cohort of VA users with IBD for the fiscal years 2003-2009 using the Veterans Affairs administrative datasets. Subjects with filled prescriptions for IMM were included. The primary endpoint was the proportion of subjects who had a white blood cell (WBC) test completed within 90 days of the IMM index date. Determinants of myelosuppression monitoring were identified by univariate and multivariate analyses.
Results: A total of 6045 unique IBD patients were identified with filled IMM prescriptions. Overall, only 57% of subjects completed a WBC test within 90 days of IMM index date. Monitoring rates increased over time, from 48% in 2003 to 75% in 2009. There was variability of monitoring rates by facility, ranging from 0 to 83%. In multivariate analyses, older age at IMM index date was associated with a lower rate of monitoring. Frequency of VA encounters and IMM index date were associated with increased rates of myelosuppression monitoring.
Conclusions: Monitoring for myelosuppression among veterans with inflammatory bowel disease after immunomodulator medications initiation is low with wide variability based on facility. This may reflect a low quality of care among veterans with IBD. Provider- and system-wide interventions are needed to improve adherence and reduce variability of immunomodulator medications monitoring across facilities.
Published 2012. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.