A Health Survey of Gastroenterologist Prescribing Practices of Adalimumab for Treatment of Crohn's Disease: Final Results

• Published in: Gastroenterology & hepatology Vol. 10; no. 8; pp. 503 - 509
• Main Authors: Zullow, Samantha, Flasar, Mark H, Greenberg, Deborah, Tracy, J Kathleen, Rustgi, Ankur, Cross, Raymond K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Millennium Medical Publishing 01-08-2014
• Subjects: Column; Adalimumab; health survey; prescribing practices; Crohn’s disease
• ISSN: 1554-7914

Adalimumab (Humira, AbbVie) has efficacy in treatment-naive and infliximab (Remicade, Janssen)-exposed patients with Crohn's disease (CD). An e-survey was sent to US gastroenterologists who were members of the American Gastroenterological Association. A total of 398 gastroenterologists (3%) completed the survey. Seventy-two percent prescribed adalimumab more than a few times yearly, 58% followed more than 50 patients with CD, and 15% followed 200 or more patients with CD. Ninety percent of gastroenterologists felt that adalimumab had a moderately significant positive impact on patient care. Eighty-two percent correctly identified the US Food and Drug Administration-approved adalimumab induction and maintenance regimens. These gastroenterologists were more likely to follow 200 or more patients with CD (
=.045) and prescribe adalimumab more than a few times per year (
=.037). Years in practice, practice setting, gender, and region did not impact prescribing. Correct dosing was associated with higher prescribing frequency (
=.014) and volume of patients with CD (
=.025). The frequency of adalimumab prescribing and volume of patients with CD were predictive of the total number of correct survey answers (
=.014 and
=.017, respectively). Only 50% of gastroenterologists always administered loading doses when switching to adalimumab from another anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agent; 43.5% reported unclear loading efficacy and 24.3% reported infection concerns from excess anti-TNF as reasons. Eighteen percent of gastroenterologists reported that pharmacies had reduced their prescribed adalimumab doses. To our knowledge, this is the only study evaluating prescribing patterns of adalimumab in patients with CD in the United States. Our findings demonstrate that many gastroenterologists are not using optimal adalimumab dosing strategies, which may lead to a decreased rate of response in patients with CD. Further research is needed to confirm our findings and identify barriers to optimal adalimumab use by gastroenterologists for treatment of CD.