Efficacy is the primary factor in patients’ decisions to take antipsychotic medications, but weight gain is an important side effect that can also impact those decisions, explained Adam Simmons, director of clinical program management, Alkermes. Simmons was interviewed at the 175th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, where he presented on the investigational drug ALKS 3831.
Efficacy is the primary factor in patients’ decisions to take antipsychotic medications, but weight gain is an important side effect that can also impact those decisions, explained Adam Simmons, director of clinical program management, Alkermes. Simmons was interviewed at the 175th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, where he presented on the investigational drug ALKS 3831.
Transcript
Are there patient-reported outcomes indicating that more people will stay on therapy if they receive the benefits of olanzapine with less weight gain?
Yeah, interestingly, we did a survey of 500 patients living with schizophrenia being treated in outpatient clinics asking about what their preferences were for antipsychotic medications in general. Some of the feedback from that survey was that, first and foremost, efficacy was the most important factor for them taking a medication.
But when we asked about side effects, weight gain was one of the most important side effects for them to consider in taking a medication. Further to that, we asked about thresholds of weight gain, and about 80% of patients will go onto a medication, if that medication’s gonna cause about 5 pounds or less of weight gain.
But as you kind of go up the threshold and you start asking about 20 pounds or more, that’s where we know that for 70% of patients, they either absolutely won’t take a medication or it would seriously impact their decision. And with that, that number was even higher for females. So based on that survey as well as other information that’s been published in the literature, we know that weight gain is a major factor in people’s decision for choosing whether or not to take a certain antipsychotic medication.
Standard Criteria for Loss of Ambulation Needed in DMD
April 19th 2024A recent study suggests the differences between ambulation definitions for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can impact the identification of ambulant vs nonambulant individuals, and standard criteria across settings are needed.
Read More
The Importance of Examining and Preventing Atrial Fibrillation
August 29th 2023At this year’s American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention, Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, delivered the Honorary Fellow Award Lecture, “The Imperative to Focus on the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation,” as the recipient of this year’s Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology award.
Listen
An Overview of Health Care and Pharmaceutical Trends, 2023-2024
April 19th 2024Douglas M. Long, BA, MBA, was featured as the keynote speaker on the closing day of The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 2024 annual meeting, with a session dedicated to surveying the health care and pharmaceutical trends of the last year.
Read More
Promoting Equity in Public Health: Policy, Investment, and Community Engagement Solutions
June 28th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, on the core takeaways of his keynote session at AHIP 2022 on public health policy and other solutions to promote equitable health and well-being.
Listen
Collecting SDOH Data Can Assess Risk of Medical Nonadherence, Improve HEI and Star Ratings
April 18th 2024At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting, a panel of presenters explored changes coming to Medicare that incorporate social determinants of health (SDOH) data to improve patient and health system outcomes.
Read More