Two selective COX2 inhibitors, rofecoxib and celecoxib, were introduced on the French market in 2000. We evaluated their use in the treatment of osteoarthritis by general practitioners, with special attention to concomitant prescription of gastroprotective agents.
The Thales Epidemiology Observatory is a medical database compiled by a representative sample of 1000 general practitioners in France. We examined the data collected during the year before and the year after the introduction of rofecoxib and celecoxib on the French market (November 1999-October 2001). During each of the 2 years of the study period, about 200,000 visits for 70,000 patients were entered into the database.
COX2 inhibitors were prescribed at a rapidly increasing rate during the second year, when they accounted for 38% of the prescription volume for nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and 25% of prescribed medication costs. In some patients, COX2 inhibitors were substituted for nonselective NSAIDs, and in others they were used as first-line NSAID therapy. On average over the 2-year study period, 22.1% of prescriptions for conventional NSAIDs included a prescription for a gastroprotective agent; this proportion increased from 18.6% in November 1999 to 24.8% in October 2001. Among prescriptions for COX2 inhibitors, 17.5% included a gastroprotective agent.
General practitioners have been prompt to use COX2 inhibitors in the treatment of osteoarthritis. However, they have not decreased their use of concomitant gastroprotective treatment. Thus, they seem aware that proof of a lower long-term risk of gastrointestinal toxicity with COX2 inhibitors is lacking, and that elderly patients such as those with osteoarthritis are at high risk for gastrointestinal side effects of NSAIDs.