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PCON Editor shares prescribing trends with AOA audience

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SAN DIEGO — Here at the first-ever “Meet the Editors” symposium during the American Optometric Association Annual Congress, Primary Care Optometry News Editor Michael D. DePaolis, OD, presented data from two PCON prescribing surveys conducted in 2000 and 2003. In general, the survey results indicated that the level of therapeutic pharmaceutical agent (TPA) certification among optometrists has risen, along with their prescribing activity in the anti-allergy, anti-infective and anti-glaucoma categories.

The surveys were each sent to a randomized sample of 500 PCON readers in August 2000 and February 2003. They received a 45% and 42% response rate, respectively. In 2000, 14% of respondents were not TPA certified, while in 2003 only 5% were not.

This year, 93% of respondents said they prescribed anti-allergy agents, compared with 91% in 2000. Patanol (olopatadine, Alcon) remained the most commonly prescribed from 2000 to 2003.

This year, 93% of respondents said they prescribed anti-infectives, compared with 87% in 2000. In 2000, the most commonly prescribed agent was TobraDex (tobramycin/dexamethasone, Alcon), but it dropped to #2 in 2003, behind Ciloxan (ciprofloxacin HCl, Alcon). Dr. DePaolis said the surveys indicated strong growth for Quixin (levofloxacin, Santen) and a resurgence for Pred-G (prednisolone acetate gentamicin sulfate, Allergan) and NeoDecadron (neomycin sulfate dexamethasone sodium phosphate, Merck).

This year, 59% of respondents said they prescribed glaucoma therapeutics, compared with 45% in 2000. The most commonly prescribed agent remains Timoptic (timolol maleate, Merck) and generic timolol, as indicated by both surveys. According to Dr. DePaolis, significant growth was seen over the 3-year period for Azopt (brinzolamide, Alcon), Betimol (Novartis), and Rescula (unoprostone isopropyl, Novartis).

Dr. DePaolis summarized the trends indicated by these survey results: “An increasing number of optometrists are becoming certified; the vast majority of optometrists treat ocular allergy; optometrists are prescribing more fluoroquinolone antibiotics; and more optometrists are treating glaucoma – with newer drugs.”