e33
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
DOI: 10.22374/1710-6222.25.2.6
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
The Canadian Association for Population Therapeutics /
Association Canadienne pour la Thérapeutique des
Populations presents:
Taking Action on Real World Evidence:
from Analysis to Impact
ABSTRACTS
October 22
nd
– 23
rd
, 2018
MaRS Discovery District
101 College Street
Toronto, Ontario
Abstracts are published on-line in
The Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology
www.jptcp.com
e34
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
1. Influence of opioid prescribing standards on
drug utilization among patients with chronic
opioid use: a retrospective cohort study
Morrow RL
1
, Bassett, K
1,2
, Wright JM
1,3
, Carney G
1
,
Dormuth CR
1
1
Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and
Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia,
2
Department of Family Practice, University of British
Columbia,
3
Department of Medicine, University of
British Columbia
Address: Therapeutics Initiative, University of British
Columbia
richard.morrow@ti.ubc.ca
Background: In mid-2016, the College of Physi-
cians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC)
issued prescribing standards and guidelines relating
to opioid drugs, and a policy on prescribing of the
opioid substitution therapy buprenorphine/naloxone.
We evaluated whether the Colleges policies influ-
enced prescription drug utilization.
Methods: We used a longitudinal cohort study de-
sign with monthly repeated outcome measures.
Patients with chronic prescription opioid use during
a 6-month identification period were followed for
a 24-month pre-policy period and 12-month post-
policy period, and were compared to equivalent his-
torical controls who were followed one year earlier
and were therefore not exposed the policies. We
estimated changes in the utilization of opioids, high-
dose opioids (>90 milligrams of morphine equiva-
lents (MME)/day), opioids with sedatives/hypnotics,
opioid discontinuation, and opioid substitution ther-
apy (methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone).
Results: The study included 68,113 patients in the
main cohort and 68,429 historical controls; 47,416
patients were in both cohorts. Following the opioid
policies, we observed reductions in average monthly
utilization levels of opioids (adjusted difference -63
MME; 95% CI -81 to -45), high-dose opioids (ad-
justed difference 0.2 days; 95% CI -0.3 to -0.2), and
opioids with sedatives/hypnotics (adjusted differ-
ence -0.2 days; 95% CI -0.2 to -0.1). There were
increases in opioid discontinuation and opioid sub-
stitution therapy. The study did not evaluate the im-
pact of the opioid policies on health outcomes.
Conclusion: The CPSBC opioid policies modestly
reduced utilization of opioids, high-dose opioids and
opioids with sedatives/hypnotics among patients
with chronic use of prescribed opioids while increas-
ing use of opioid substitution therapy.
2. Estimating the Impact of Treatment Evolution
in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): the iTEN
model
Moldaver D
1
, Hurry M
2
, Tran D
1
, Grima D
1
1
Cornerstone Research Group, Burlington, Canada,
2
AstraZeneca Canada, Mississauga, Canada
manjusha.hurry@astrazeneca.com
Objectives: Treatments options for patients with
advanced NSCLC (aNSCLC) are rapidly expanding.
The iTEN model was developed to support medical
decision-making by predicting aNSCLC patient sur-
vival and associated costs, from a Canadian health-
care system perspective.
Methods: A discrete event simulation of aNSCLC
treatment patterns was developed. Treatment se-
quencing and eligibility were derived from a modi-
fied Delphi process with Canadian clinical experts.
Published Kaplan Meier progression free and over-
all survival data were fit with parametric functions to
estimate treatment efficacy and guide the determi-
nation of progression and death events. Treatment
history was assumed to have no impact on the effi-
cacy of subsequent therapies. Costs included were:
drug acquisition and administration, monitoring, im-
aging, physician visits, end-of-life, best supportive
care and adverse events. Model survival predictions
were validated against published real-world es-
timates from the Ontario Cancer and TYROL reg-
istries and a US medical records analysis (Nadler,
2018).
Results: The Ontario Cancer Registry, TYROL
registry, and US medical records study reported
overall survival for patients receiving two-lines of
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
e35
chemotherapy, up to five-lines of treatment with
chemotherapy/targeted therapies or up to three-
lines of treatment with immunotherapies/chemo-
therapy/targeted therapies, respectively. One-year
survival rates in these studies were 67%, 38% and
49%; corresponding iTEN estimates, after restrict-
ing the treatment pattern to match each study, were
61%, 39% and 60%. Based on current Canadian
practice patterns, the estimated one-year survival
and life-time cost of treating aNSCLC were 46% and
$89,899.
Conclusions: Further validation is planned; how-
ever, the model may reasonably estimate the clinical
and cost consequences of treating aNSCLC.
3. Patient characteristics, treatment patterns and
survival for unresectable stage III non-small cell
lung cancer in Ontario, Canada
Seung SJ
1
, Hurry M
2
, Walton R
2
, Evans WK
3
1
HOPE Research Centre, Sunnybrook Research In-
stitute;
2
AstraZeneca Canada,
3
McMaster University
soojin.seung@sunnybrook.ca
Objectives: In anticipation of new treatment strat-
egies for unresectable stage III NSCLC, we under-
took a retrospective study to determine how these
patients have been managed in Ontario, Canada
and their survival by treatment approach.
Methods: Individuals diagnosed between April 1,
2010 and March 31, 2015 were identified in the
Ontario Cancer Registry. Patients were unresecta-
ble if no surgery was undertaken within 3 months
of diagnosis. Initial treatments included: radiation
(RT), chemotherapy, concurrent and sequential
chemo+RT (cCRT, sCRT). Survival was calculated
from date of diagnosis to death.
Results: There were 24,729 individuals diagnosed
with NSCLC; 5,243 (21.2%) were stage III and 4,542
(18.4%) were stage III unresectable. Mean age of
the latter group was 69.7 ± 10.3 years; 54.2%
were male. 64.2% of patients were treated within 3
months of diagnosis. The frequency of treatment ap-
proach was: cCRT (21.6%), palliative RT (21.3%),
curative RT (20.2%), no treatment (19.6%), chemo-
therapy (11.6%), sCRT (4.9%) and targeted therapy
(0.7%). Median survival (IQR) was 2.9 yrs (1.7-4.8)
for targeted therapy, 2.0 yrs (1.0-5.5) for cCRT,
1.4 yrs (0.7-3.4) for curative RT, 1.4 yrs (0.7-3.1)
for chemotherapy, 1.2 yr (0.6-2.9) for sCRT, 0.6 yrs
(0.3-1.2) for palliative RT and 0.5 yrs (0.2-1.2) for no
treatment.
Conclusion: Although cCRT is generally consid-
ered standard of care for stage III unresectable NS-
CLC, patients in Ontario receive various treatment
approaches. Survival outcomes vary widely.
4. Time trends among new users of osteoporosis
drugs over 20 years: considerations for
pharmacoepidemiologic study design
Hayes KN
1
, Ban JK
2
, Burden AM
2
, Athanasiadis G
2
,
Cadarette SM
1,2
1
University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public
Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, Ep-
idemiology Division,
2
University of Toronto Leslie
Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharma-
ceutical Sciences
k.hayes@mail.utoronto.ca
Background: Oral bisphosphonates entered the
market in 1996 and are the main osteoporosis
drugs prescribed in Canada. Introduction of new
therapeutic options, updates to practice guidelines,
and healthcare policy changes may make studies
examining new-users of bisphosphonates suscep-
tible to time-varying biases. Objective: To compare
characteristics of first-time bisphosphonate users in
Ontario, Canada over time.
Methods: The Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) program
covers prescription drugs listed on the ODB formu-
lary for residents aged 65 or more years. We iden-
tified first dispensation of an oral bisphosphonate
among Ontario residents from 1996/04 to 2015/03.
We excluded patients aged younger than 66 years,
taking other osteoporosis drugs, with health condi-
tions known to impact bone, and long-term care fa-
cility residents. Medical and pharmacy claims within
the year prior to bisphosphonate dispensation were
used to characterize patients. Descriptive statistics
were used to summariz e and compare patient char-
acteristics by fiscal year.
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
e36
Results: We identified 523,210 eligible seniors (mean
age 75 years). A larger proportion of men (6.2% to
29.0%) and diabetics (8.7% to 17.8%) initiated ther-
apy over time. History of benzodiazepines decreased
(26.6% to 11.5%), while prior statin use (9.5% to
42.8%), oral corticosteroid use (10.6% to 14.7%), and
prior bone mineral density testing (46.7% to 68.0%)
increased. A shift in prescriptions from etidronate to
alendronate and risedronate was documented.
Conclusions: Characteristics of new initiators
of oral bisphosphonates among Ontario seniors
changed over time, reflecting changes in healthcare
delivery and osteoporosis management. Consider-
ation must be given to time-trends when designing
pharmacoepidemiologic studies in this population.
5. Interrupted time series analysis of long-acting
injectable antipsychotic use
Janzen D
1
, Kuo I
1
, Leong C
1
, Bolton JM
2
, Alessi-
Severini S
1
1
College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health
Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,
2
De-
partment of Psychiatry, Max Rady College of Medi-
cine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of
Manitoba, Winnipeg
janzend6@myumanitoba.ca
Background: Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsy-
chotics are recommended to improve adherence
to maintenance antipsychotic therapy; however,
injectable antipsychotic therapy may be negatively
perceived and subsequently underutilized. We hy-
pothesized LAI use increased after market entry of
the second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) risperi-
done in LAI formulation in 2004.
Methods:Administrative health databases at the
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) were
accessed to identify and describe LAI antipsychotic
users. Interrupted time series analysis with Poisson
regression was used to model LAI user counts be-
tween 1998 and 2016. Predictor variables included
time in fiscal quarters, a dummy variable indicating
quarters pre- or post-LAI risperidone market entry,
and time since LAI risperidone market entry. The
Manitoba population was included as an offset
variable and the model was adjusted for autocorrela-
tion. Analysis was conducted with SAS® software.
Results: A downward trend in LAI use was ob-
served prior to LAI risperidone market entry (RR:
0.976, p<0.0001). Post-entry, the trend reversed
(RR: 1.038, p<0.0001), resulting in a net increase of
1.4% per quarter after 2004 (RR: 1.014, p<0.0001).
Median time to LAI initiation following schizophrenia
diagnosis decreased from 3.3 years (IQR 0.7-6) in
2004 to 0.3 years (IQR 0.1-0.9) in 2015 (p=0.003).
Conclusions: The introduction of LAI risperidone in
2004 had a positive impact on LAI use. Furthermore,
initiation of LAIs occurred earlier after schizophrenia
diagnosis in 2015 compared with 2004. Acknowl-
edgements Results and conclusions are those of
the authors; no official endorsement by Manitoba
Health, Seniors and Healthy Living or MCHP is in-
tended or should be inferred.
6. Outcomes of metastasectomy in metastatic
renal cell carcinoma patients: The Canadian
Kidney Cancer information system experience
Nazha S
1
, Dragomir A
1
,Wood LA
2
,Rendon RA
2
,-
Finelli A
3
, Hansen A
3
,So AI
4
,Kollmannsberger C
4
,-
Basappa N
5
, Pouliot F
6
, Soulieres D
7
,Heng D
8
,
Kapoor A
9
,Tanguay S
1
1
McGill University Health Center, McGill Universit,
2
Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Nova
Scotia,
3
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Uni-
versity of Toronto,
4
BC Cancer Agency Vancouver
Cancer Centre, BC Cancer Agency,
5
Cross Can-
cer Institute, University of Alberta,
6
Centre Hospi-
talier Universitaire de Quebec, University of Laval,
7
Centre Hospitalier de L‘Universite de Montreal,
University of Montreal,
8
Tom Baker Cancer Center,
University of Calgary,
9
Juravinski Cancer Centre,
McMaster University
sara.nazha@hotmail.com
Objective: Surgical resection of metastasis can be
integrated in the management of metastatic renal
cell carcinoma (mRCC) as it can contribute to de-
lay disease progression and improve survival. This
study assessed the impact of metastasectomy in
mRCC patients using real-world pan-Canadian data.
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
e37
Methods: The Canadian Kidney Cancer information
system (CKCis) database was used to select pa-
tients who were diagnosed with mRCC between Jan
2011 and Dec 2017.All patients having had a com-
plete or incomplete metastasectomy and no metas-
tasectomy during follow-up where included in the
study cohort. Each patient having received a com-
plete or incomplete metastasectomy was matched
with up to 10 patients with no metastasectomy by
several potential confounding factors, such as: age,
time from RCC diagnosis until metastasis, clear cell
histology and use of targeted treatment before me-
tastasectomy and having had a nephrectomy.
Results: A total of 329 patients had complete (221
patients) and incomplete (10 8 patients) metastasec-
tomy, while 1,318 mRCC patients did not undergo
a metastasectomy. At 12 months, 99.1%, 88% and
76.8% of patients were alive in the complete metas-
tasectomy, incomplete metastasectomy and no me-
tastasectomy group, respectively (p<0.001). A total of
298 patients receiving metastasectomy (101 incom-
plete metastasectomy and 197 receiving complete)
have been matched to a control group of patients
who did not have metastasectomy. Finally, patients
receiving metastasectomy show an increased sur-
vival compared to patients not having had a metas-
tasectomy HR: 0.48 (95%CI 0.37-0.63), p<0.001.
Conclusion: Our study revealed the positive ef-
fect of metastasectomy performed in mRCC with
an improved OS compared to patients with no
metastasectomy.
7. A non-opioid alternative to intravenous (IV)
opioids in emergency departments (ED) would
significantly reduce the economic burden on the
healthcare system. A societal perspective cost-
consequence analysis.
Dao S, Nguyen TTY, Muhimpundu CV
Synergyx Consulting Inc.
sebastien@synergyxconsulting.ca
Background: IV opioids are commonly used for the
management of pain in ED. This drug utilization re-
sults in significant costs to the healthcare system.
The objective was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness
of methoxyflurane (MXF) in the treatment of adult
patients requiring analgesia for moderate to severe
acute pain associated with minor trauma.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical re-
cords, as well as primary and secondary researches
were conducted. A cost-consequence analysis
(CCA) was chosen to compare MFX to IV opioids
(morphine, fentanyl, hydromorphone). The cost per
consequence avoided and total cost of treatment
per patient were evaluated in the CCA. The conse-
quences included IV opioid’s side effects/complica-
tions and the use of healthcare resources.
Results: The total cost of treatment per patient were
$165.85 for MFX, $316.54 for morphine, $320.41 for
fentanyl and $315.33 for hydromorphone. MFX in ED
can generate savings of $151.58 per patient by reducing
nursing/physician time for IV administration and patient
monitoring. MFX has an improved safety profile with
less nausea (2.0% for MFX versus 12.1% morphine,
21.1% fentanyl and 19.0% hydromorphone), vomiting
(2.0% versus 5.8%, 9.5% and 10.7% respectively), hy-
potension (1.0% versus 2.1%, 1.6% and 1.1% respec-
tively), respiratory depression (0.0% versus 1.1%, 1.1%
and 1.1% respectively) and no complication (phlebitis,
extravasation and harmful IV errors) associated with
IV opioids. Which translates into additional savings of
$90.66 per patient for avoided consequences.
Conclusion: MFX is a cost-effective alternative to
IV opioids with an improved safety profile and a re-
duced economic burden on the healthcare system.
8. Real-world safety of second-generation direct-
acting antivirals in Hepatitis C
Machado MA
1
, Moura CS
1
, Klein M
1
, Winthrop K
2
,
Carleton B
3
, Abrahamowicz M
1
, Feld J
4
, Curtis JR
5
,
Bernatsky S
1
1
Research Institute of the McGill University Health
Centre.
2
Oregon Health & Science University.
3
University of British Columbia.
4
Toronto Western
Hospital Liver Center, University Health Network.
5
University of Alabama at Birmingham.
marina.machado@mail.mcgill.ca
Objective: To compare the safety of direct-acting
antivirals (DAA) hepatitis C virus (HCV).
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
e38
HOPE Research Centre, Sunnybrook Research
Institute
shazia.hassan@sunnybrook.ca
Objectives:The Build Better Bones with Exercise
(B3E) pilot trial evaluated the effects of home ex-
ercise on community-dwelling older women with
vertebral fractures. The objective of this exploratory
economic analysis was to examine the health re-
source utilization and cost-effectiveness of the B3E
study.
Methods: The B3E study participants were rand-
omized in a 1:1 ratio to a 12-month home exercise
program or equal attention control group. Clini-
cal and health system resources such as adverse
events (AEs), allied health visits, caregiver time, lost
productivity, medical equipment, medications, out-
of-pocket costs, and physician visits and tests were
collected during monthly phone calls by a blinded
research assistant and from daily diaries completed
by participants. Program costs for both groups were
included as well. Quality of life (QoL) information
was collected via EQ-5D-5L at baseline, 6 and 12
months. Unit costs (2018 CAD) were applied to
health system resources to calculate total, medi-
an±standard deviation (SD) and minimum-maxi-
mum (min-max) costs of the intervention and control
groups, as well as the median cost per patient. The
incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) between
the two groups was also calculated.
Results: The study included 141 women (mean
age=76±6.40y for intervention, 77±7.28y for control)
and overall total costs were $664,923 and $614,033,
respectively. The top three cost drivers from the
resource utilization collected were caregiver time
($250,269 and $240,811), medications ($151,000
and $122,145) and adverse events ($58,807 and
$71,981). The mean cost per intervention patient
was $9,365±$9,988 (median=$5,054, min–max=
$1,210–$57,774), and the mean cost per control
patient was $8,772±$9,718 (median=$5,203, min–
max = $931–$51,327). The mean EQ-5D index
score per patient was 0.81±0.11 (median=0.81,
min–max =0.54–1) and 0.79±0.13 (median=0.80,
min–max= 0.33–1) respectively. The difference in
Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort
study of adults with HCV using MarketScan data-
bases. Cohort entry was the date of first prescription
of simeprevir/sofosbuvir (SIM/SOF), ledipasvir/so-
fosbuvir (LDV/SOF), ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritona-
vir+dasabuvir (OPrD), sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (SOF/
VEL), or elbasvir/grazoprevir (EBR/GZR) between
Jan/2014-Nov/2016. Adverse events were defined
as rashes, anaemia, and hepatic decompensation
recorded in hospital or outpatient claims between
cohort entry and therapy completion or discontinu-
ation. Patients with any of these diagnoses before
cohort entry were excluded. Cox regression was
performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95%
confidence intervals (CI) for a composite outcome
(at least one event) adjusted for demographics,
co-morbidities, past HCV drugs, concomitant ribavi-
rin, and baseline health care use.
Results: We identified 15,480 HCV patients treated
with DAAs (72.9% LDV/SOF, 13.3% OPrD, 9.4%
SIM/SOF, 2.9% SOF/VEL, and 1.5% EBR/GZR);
11.8% used ribavirin concomitantly. Median age was
58 years (interquartile range 53-62) and 61.6% were
male. The frequency of skin events ranged from
0.2% (95%CI 0.0-0.7.) in SOF/VEL to 2.2% (95%CI
0.3-4.1) in EBR/GZR. The frequency of anaemia
ranged from 0.7% (95%CI 0.5-0.9) in LDV/SOF to
2.7% (95%CI 2.0-3.4) in OPrD. Hepatic decompen-
sation was rare (<0.6% overall). Multivariate analy-
ses were unable to establish differences between
drugs. Ribavirin use (HR 1.89, 1.36-2.62), baseline
cirrhosis (HR 2.05, 1.65-2.54) and previous hospi-
talization (HR 1.21, 1.01-1.45) were associated with
shorter time to an adverse event.
Conclusion: We found similar safety profiles for dif-
ferent DAAs agents. Reasons for altered risk should
be further explored.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
9. Assessing the cost-effectiveness of the build
better bones with exercise pilot trial
Hassan S, Seung SJ, Templeton JA, Adachi JD,
Ashe MC, Clark R, Gibbs JC, Kendler D, Mitt-
mann N, Papaioannou A, Thabane L, Wark JD,
Giangregorio LM.
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.©
2018 CAPT.
e39
quality adjusted life year (QALY) (0.02) was used to
calculate the ICER, and the ICER was determined
to be $29,650.
Conclusions:Results from this preliminary study of
141 women in the B3E study indicate a variety of
health resources are being utilized over a 12-month
period.
10. Time to Discontinuation of Biologic Therapy
by Mechanism of Action in Rheumatoid Arthritis:
Results from The Ontario Best Practice Research
Initiative (OBRI) Cohort
Movahedi M
1
, Hepworth E, Mirza R
2
, Cesta
A
1
, Larche MG
3
, Bombardier C
1,4,5,
and OBRI
investigators
1
Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, Uni-
versity Health Network, Toronto, ON;
2
Department
of Internal Medicine, McMaster University, Hamil-
ton, ON;
3
Divisions of Rheumatology and Clinical
Immunology and Allergy, Department of Medicine,
Hamilton, ON,
4
Department of Medicine (DOM) and
Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evalu-
ation (IHPME), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON;
5
Division of Rheumatology, Mount Sinai Hospital,
Toronto, ON
mmovahed@uhnres.utoronto.ca
Background: Time to discontinuation of biologic
therapy may be related to mechanism of action. We
aimed to compare drug survival of tumor necrosis
factor inhibitors (TNFi) versus non-TNFi in an obser-
vational rheumatoid arthritis cohort.
Methods: Patients in the Ontario Best Practice Re-
search Initiative (OBRI) who started their first bio-
logics on or any time after enrolment were included.
Time to discontinuation due to (1) any reason,
(2) non-response, physician, and patient decision,
(3) non-response, and (4) adverse events (AEs)
were assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival and
Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.
Results: A total of 796 patients were included of
whom 130 (16.3%) received non-TNFi and 756
(83.7%) received TNFi. Over a mean follow-up of
2.4 years, biologic discontinuation was reported
for 291 (36.6%) due to any reason, 229 (28.8%)
due to non-response, AEs, physician, and patient
decision, 110 (13.8%) due to non-response, and
81 (10.2%) due to AEs, respectively. There was a
significant difference in time to discontinuation due
to any reason (Logrank p=0.0002); non-response,
AEs, physician, and patient decision (Logrank
p=0.04) between groups. After adjusting for poten-
tial confounders, difference remained significant
for any reason [HR: 0.62 (0.46-0.84)] and non-
response, AEs, physician, and patient decision
[HR: 0.67 (0.47-0.94)].
Conclusions: The analysis demonstrates that pa-
tients initially started on non-TNFi are significantly
more likely to discontinue their therapy earlier for
any reason and due to non-response, AEs, physi-
cian and patient decision compared to TNFi therapy.
Lack of response is likely not driving this, whereas
patient and physician preference likely influenced
the results.
11. Collection of anti-rheumatic medication data
from both patients and rheumatologists shows
strong agreement in a real world clinical cohort:
results from the Ontario best practices research
initiative (OBRI)
Movahedi M
1
, Cesta A
1
, Li X
1
, Bombardier C
1,2,3
on
behalf of Other OBRI Investigators
1
Ontario Best Practices Research Initiative, Toronto
General Research Institute, University Health Net-
work,
2
Department of Medicine (DOM) and Insti-
tute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation
(IHPME), University of Toronto,
3
Division of Rheu-
matology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada
mmovahed@uhnres.utoronto.ca
Background: Collection of Anti-Rheumatic Medica-
tion (ARM) information from both patients and rheu-
matologists is considered a strength for Rheumatoid
Arthritis (RA) registries. However, it is important to
assess the agreement between these two data
sources.
Objectives: To examine the agreement of ARM use
between self-reports and rheumatologist reports
in the Ontario Best Practices Research Initiative
(OBRI).
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
© 2018 CAPT.
e40
Methods: Patients enrolled in the OBRI on or after
Sep 1st 2010 with the ARM use reports from two
sources within 60 days of each other were included.
ARM included conventional synthetic Disease-
Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (csDMARDs) and
biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs). Cohen’s Kappa sta-
tistics of agreement between the two data sources
were calculated. A multivariate backward stepwise
logistic regression was also used to exam the im-
pact of different factors on ARM use agreement be-
tween two data sources.
Results: 2,154 patients (78.7% female) were
included with a mean (SD) age of 57.8 (12.6)
year. There was a good agreement (Cohen’s
Kappa=0.61-0.80) between two sources. Increased
HAQ-pain index (OR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.60-0.73) and
physician global score (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.92-
0.98) were significantly associated with the lower
agreement. By contrast, post-secondary education
(OR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.02-1.40), and seeing an ac-
ademic rheumatologist (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.25-
1.73) were significantly associated with the higher
agreement.
Conclusions: The results of this analysis suggest
that ARM reports from the two data sources have
strong agreement in the OBRI. This agreement is
even better for patients who have post-secondary
education and are being treated by an academic
rheumatologist.
12. Physician characteristics associated with
opioid overdose hospitalization and death among
patients with long-term opioid use: a retrospective
cohort study
Morrow RL
1
, Carney G
1
, Dormuth CR
1
Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and
Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia
richard.morrow@ti.ubc.ca
Background: We investigated whether the phy-
sician characteristics of sex, medical school grad-
uation year, high practice volume, or prescribing
behaviour were associated with hospitalization and
death involving accidental opioid overdose among
patients with long-term prescription opioid use.
Methods: We conducted a longitudinal cohort study
with monthly repeated outcome measures, using
administrative health data in British Columbia. The
study included patients with >=180 days of continu-
ous prescription opioid use at the start of any month
during 2013-2015, excluding patients with a history
of long-term care, palliative care or cancer. We used
multivariable Poisson regression to estimate the
association of physician characteristics and patient
outcomes.
Results: Our analyses included 136,565 patients
and 8,721 physicians. The baseline rates of hospital
admissions and deaths involving accidental over-
dose were 4.0 (95% CI 2.2 to 7.2) per 10,000 per-
son-years and 1.9 (95% CI 0.6 to 6 .1) per 10,000
person-years, respectively. Graduation during a pe-
riod of increasing promotion and use of opioids for
chronic non-cancer pain (1996-2010) was associ-
ated with opioid overdose hospitalization (rate ratio
(RR) 1.42; 95% CI 1.06 1.91) and opioid overdose
death (RR 3.02; 95% CI 1.61 5.68); graduation in
1975 or earlier was associated with opioid overdose
hospitalization (RR 1.52; 95% CI 1.072.15).
Conclusions: Physician graduation during a pe-
riod of increasing promotion and use of opioids for
chronic non-cancer pain may have increased risk of
hospitalization and death involving accidental opioid
overdose among patients with long-term opioid use.
Longer time in practice may also be a risk factor for
opioid overdose hospitalization.
13. Canadian Patients Attitudes and Preferences
for Original and Similar Biologic Medicines: 3-Year
Comparison
Wong-Rieger D
Consumer Advocare Network
durhane@sympatico.ca
Objectives: In Canada, similar biologic medicines
are available across many conditions, recently in-
cluding diabetes and cancer. For the past three
years, the Consumer Advocare Network has con-
ducted an annual survey of patient knowledge,
attitudes and usage preferences. Issues include:
perceived effectiveness, adverse effects, switching,
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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interchangeability, pharmacovigilance, cost, and in-
formed decision making. Over the years, differences
among patient groups have emerged as important
influences, including continuous/episodic use, pri-
mary/secondary use, and variability of condition. Bi-
ologics require patient engagement for appropriate
use; as Canadian drug plans consider mandating
policies like switching, patient attitudes and behav-
ioural responses must be considered.
Methods: In 2016, an electronic survey with forced
choice, rating, and open-ended questions was sent
to about 2000 Canadian patients across diseases,
asking about biosimilar knowledge, attitudes and
preferences. In 2017 an updated version was sent
to an expanded pool, and in 2018, a revised survey
was distributed. We compared factors influencing
acceptabiity and usage of biosimilars from 200 re-
sponses (2016), 370 (2017), and 300 (2018).
Results: The trend over three years has been in-
creased knowledge and more positive attitudes
about biosimilars. Patients using biologics continu-
ously versus occasionally are more negative about
switching (70% vs.20%). Diabetes and gastrointesti-
nal patients are more concerned than arthritis. Can-
cer patients are most concerned about safety and
effectiveness.
Conclusions: Patients remain resistant to forced
switching to biosimilars, with implications for adher-
ence to and confidence in their use.
14. Case Study: Real World Evidence Supporting
Reimbursement Decision Making using the
Canadian Kidney Cancer information system
(CKCis).
Robert Bick
Kidney Cancer Canada
robertfbick@gmail.com
Background: On April 18, 2017, the pan Cana-
dian Drug Review (pCODR) posted a Request for
Advice (RFA) for axitinib (Inlyta) for metastatic re-
nal cell carcinoma (MRCC): Is there evidence to
fund axitinib as an alternative to everolimus for the
second-line treatment of metastatic clear cell renal
carcinoma? In 2009, the Kidney Cancer Research
Network of Canada (KCRNC), the research arm of
Kidney Cancer Canada (KCC) established the Ca-
nadian Kidney Cancer information system (CKCis),
a centralized database to collect data from medical
centers across the country. CKCis now contains
retrospective and prospective de-identified patient
data from over 9500 consented patients who have
been diagnosed and treated for RCC.
Methods: KCC requested that CKCis investigators
make as a research priority the RFA question. A
cohort of patients who were pretreated with either
sunitinib or pazopanib were identified where axitinib
was given second line in 108 patients while everoli-
mus was used in 229 patients.
Results: Time to treatment failure (TTF) was found
to be longer in the axitinib group with Overall Sur-
vival (OS) similar in both groups. This Real World
Evidence was submitted for review to pCODR by
KCC.
Conclusions: Conclusion of CKCis Investigators:
Axitinib should be considered an option for all pa-
tients in Canada post 1stL VEGF-Targeted Therapy
without the limitations of the existing pCODR recom-
mendation. CODR Conclusions: The Clinical Guid-
ance Panel is of the opinion that there is appropriate
real world evidence and expert judgment to justify
axitinib as an equal alternative to everolimus in the
second line setting.
15. Real world treatment patterns and survival of
stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in
Ontario, Canada
Seung SJ
1
, Hurry M
2
, Walton R
2
, Evans WK
3
1
HOPE Research Centre, Sunnybrook Research In-
stitute;
2
AstraZeneca Canada;
3
McMaster University
soojin.seung@sunnybrook.ca
Objectives: The majority of NSCLC patients are
diagnosed with Stage IV so it is important to under-
stand which patients are treated with systemic ther-
apies and to what benefit.
Methods: This longitudinal, population-level study
determined treatment patterns and survival in Stage
IV NSCLC patients diagnosed between April 1,
2010 and March 31, 2015 from the Ontario Cancer
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Registry. Individuals were further identified as hav-
ing non-squamous disease, and those who received
an EGFR-TKI (afatinib, erlotinib, gefitinib) were as-
sumed to be EGFR mutation-positive (EGFR+). Sur-
vival was calculated from date of diagnosis to death.
Results: There were 24,729 individuals diag-
nosed with NSCLC. Approximately half (12,159;
49.2%) had stage IV disease, including 10,103 with
non-squamous disease, of whom 508 were cat-
egorized as EGFR+. The mean age for the stage
IV non-squamous and EGFR+ cohorts were 68.7
± 11.0 years and 69.1 ± 10.4 years, respectively;
49.3% and 60.8% were female, respectively. The
most frequent treatments for stage IV non- squamous
patients were palliative radiotherapy (RT) (46.7%)
and systemic therapy (14.9%) while 26.7% received
no treatment. 75.6% of the EGFR+ cohort received
gefitinib, with the majority receiving no subsequent
treatment (44.6%). Mean and median survival times
(IQR) for the stage IV non-squamous patients were
0.9 ± 0.0 years and 0.4 (0.2-1.0) years, respec-
tively. Mean and median survival times (IQR) for the
EGFR+ cohort were 1.9 ± 0.1 years and 1.5 (0.9-
3.0) years, respectively.
Conclusion: Few patients with Stage IV non-squa-
mous NSCLC received systemic therapy. Survival
was generally very poor, but better in the subgroup
of EGFR+ patients.
16. Evaluation of the Fentanyl Patch-for-Patch
Program in Ontario, Canada
Tadrous M, Greaves S, Martins D, Nadeem K, Singh
S, Auger C, Gomes T
St. Michael’s Hospital
tadrousm@smh.ca
Background: The rising impact of opioid use is a
major public-health concern, especially for fentanyl
given its high potency and potential for overdose. To
curb the misuse and diversion of fentanyl patches,
an early Patch-for-Patch (P4P) program was im-
plemented in Ontario between 2012 and 2015. The
P4P program requires that patients must return their
used fentanyl patches to a pharmacy before receiv-
ing a refill.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional time-se-
ries analysis among counties that implemented the
P4P program using Ontario claims-data. We ze-
roed all intervention months and looked at outcome
rates in the 5 years prior and 12 months following
the launch of the P4P program. Outcomes included
monthly rates of prescriptions dispensed for fentanyl
and non-fentanyl opioids, and opioid toxicity-related
hospital emergency department visits and hospi-
tal admissions. We modeled each outcome using
ARIMA models and tested the impact of the P4P
program using a ramp function.
Results: We analyzed 16 counties that imple-
mented the early P4P program. Introduction of the
P4P program resulted in a significant decline in the
number of fentanyl patches dispensed (from 1,277
to 888 patches per 10,000 population; p=0.04).
There was no significant change in the rate of
non-fentanyl opioids dispensed (p=0.32) or opioid
toxicity related hospitalizations and emergency de-
partment visits (p=0.4) following implementation of
the program.
Conclusions: Implementation of a P4P program in
select counties in Ontario reduced the number of
fentanyl patches dispensed, but did not have any
measurable impact on rates of opioid toxicity-related
hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
17. Aromatase Inhibitors and Risk of
Cardiovascular Outcomes in Post-Menopausal
Women with Breast Cancer
Khosrow-Khavar F
1,2
, Filion KB
1,2,3
, Bouganim N
4,5
,
Suissa S
1,2
, Azoulay L
1,2,4
1
Centre for Clinical Epidemiology, Lady Davis Insti-
tute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada,
2
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and
Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal,
Canada,
3
Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Depart-
ment of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Can-
ada,
4
Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology,
McGill University, Montreal, Canada,
5
Department
of Oncology, Cedar Cancer Center, McGill Univer-
sity Health Center, Montreal, Canada
farzin.khosrow-khavar@mail.mcgill.ca
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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©2018 CAPT.
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Background: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) and
tamoxifen are common treatments for estrogen-
receptor positive breast cancer. However, data
from trials suggest that AIs may increase the risk
of cardiovascular outcomes, when compared with
tamoxifen. Thus, to address this safety concern, we
assessed whether use of AIs is associated with an
increased risk of cardiovascular outcomes in the
setting of real-world clinical practice.
Methods: Using the United Kingdom Clinical Prac-
tice Research Datalink linked to the Hospital Episodes
Statistics and Office for National Statistics databases,
we identified patients newly-diagnosed with post-
menopausal breast cancer who were newly-treated
with either AIs or tamoxifen between 1998 and 2015,
and followed until 2016. Cox proportional hazards mod-
els using inverse-probability-of-treatment and censoring
weighting were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs)
with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of fatal and non-fa-
tal myocardial infarction (MI) or ischemic stroke asso-
ciated with use of AIs when compared with tamoxifen.
Results: A total of 7,813 and 9,170 patients were
newly-treated with AIs and tamoxifen during the
study period, respectively. The use of AIs was
associated with a 54% increased risk of MI, when
compared with tamoxifen (4.1/1000 vs 1.9/1000
person-years; HR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.04-2.27). In
contrast, use of AIs was not associated with an
increased risk of ischemic stroke, when compared
with tamoxifen (5.1/1000 vs 3.3/1000 person-years;
HR: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.83-1.61).
Conclusion: In this study, use of AIs was associated
with an increased risk of MI but not ischemic stroke,
when compared with tamoxifen in post- menopausal
women diagnosed with breast cancer.
18. Does Active Identification of Patients Nearing
End of Life Change Use of Palliative Care and
Home Care Services?
Mittmann N, Liu N, MacKinnon M, Seung SJ, Hong
NJL, Earle CC, Gradin S, Sati S, Buchman S, Wright F
HOPE Research Centre, Sunnybrook Research
Institute
soojin.seung@sunnybrook.ca
Objective: To evaluate whether active identification of
patients who could benefit from a palliative approach
changes the use of palliative and home care services.
Methods: From 2014 to 2017, Cancer Care Ontario
implemented the INTEGRATE study among 4 can-
cer and 4 primary care centres. Physicians identi-
fied patients likely to die within 1-year and benefit
from palliative care. INTEGRATE patients were 1:1
matched to non-intervention controls selected from
provincial healthcare administrative data using pro-
pensity score-matching. Palliative and home care
services utilization was evaluated within 1-year af-
ter the index date, censoring on death, or March
31, 2017. Cumulative incidence function was used
to estimate the probability of having used services,
with death as a competing event. Rate of service
use per 360 patient-days was calculated. Palliative
and home care was analyzed.
Results: Of the 1,187 INTEGRATE patients, 1,185
were matched to a control. The intervention and
control groups were well-balanced on demograph-
ics, diagnosis, comorbidities, and death status. The
probability of using palliative services in the inter-
vention group was 81.3% (95% CI: 78.9% to 83.5%),
significantly higher than controls (63.5%, 95% CI:
60.6% to 66.2%). The intervention group had a
statistically higher number palliative visits (29.7 vs.
19.6 per 360 patient-days) and greater probabil-
ity of receiving home care (82.5% vs. 56.8%) than
controls. Rate of palliative visits in the intervention
group (67.0 per 360 patient-days) was doubled than
controls (33.2 per 360 patient-days).
Conclusion: Physicians actively identifying patients
benefiting from palliative care resulted in increased
use of palliative and home care services.
19. Prioritization of Oncology Drugs: What factors
lead to priority status?
Sabarre KA
1
, Ellis KB
1
, Haynes AE
1
, Assasi N
1
, Denburg
AE
2,3
, Cheung MC
2,4
, Moltzan CJ
2,5
, Trudeau M
2,6
1
CADTH pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review,
2
pCODR Expert Review Committee,
3
Division of Hae-
matology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children
and University of Toronto,
4
Division of Hematology/
Oncology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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©2018 CAPT.
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University of Toronto,
5
Department of Medical On-
cology and Hematology CancerCare Manitoba and
University of Manitoba,
6
Division of Medical Oncol-
ogy and Hematology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences
Centre and University of Toronto
kelley-annes@cadth.ca
Background: At the time of their pan-Canadian On-
cology Drug Review (pCODR) submission, Submit-
ters may request a priority review (PR). This request
has an impact on the order of review, and placement
on the pCODR Expert Review Committee (pERC)
meeting agenda. PR requests are assessed by a
panel of pERC members and priority status is either
granted or not.
Objective: To provide a qualitative assessment of
PR requests submitted to pCODR, with the aim of
understanding what factors lead to prioritization.
Methods: Data from 53 pCODR submissions that
have requested PR were explored using qualitative
content analysis.
Results: 32 submissions received priority status,
21 submissions did not. Factors related to clini-
cally meaningful outcomes (e.g., overall survival
[OS], toxicity, progression-free survival [PFS]),
promising evidence (e.g., OS, PFS, quality of life
[QoL]), availability, and novel drugs were com-
monly mentioned in the panel’s conclusion for
granting priority status. Deterrents to prioritization
were not having clinically meaningful outcomes or
an urgent unmet need, availability of other treat-
ment options, and uncertainty of evidence (related
OS, QoL, safety). The decision to grant priority
status does not automatically translate to a pos-
itive funding recommendation; five submissions
with priority status did not receive positive funding
recommendations.
Conclusions: A range of factors contributes to
priority status being granted, premised on a lim-
ited set of values deemed relevant to technology
prioritization. Future research will 1) characterize
the determinants of technology prioritization using
quantitative measures and 2) explore the normative
basis for prioritization through comparative analyses
of priority-setting criteria among HTA institutions.
20. Factors affecting ototoxicity in head and neck
squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients treated
curatively with cisplatin-based chemoradiation.
Hueniken K, Zhang Y, Falls C, Brown MC, Mirshams
M, Rahimi M, Spreafico A, Jang R, Hansen A, Siu L,
Waldron J, Bayley A, Giuliani M, Goldstein D, Wang J,
Hope A, Xu W
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
k.hueniken@mail.utoronto.ca
Purpose: To estimate prevalence of hearing loss
among HNSCC patients treated with cisplatin-based
chemoradiation, and assesses need for baseline
and follow-up hearing tests.
Methods: At Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, a
prospective observational study assessed HNSCC
patients receiving cisplatin-based chemoradiation.
Hearing tests was tested at baseline and follow-up
(0.7-18.5 months after treatment initiation) at physi-
cian’s discretion. Significant ototoxicity was defined
as a grade 2 audiometric change from baseline to
post-treatment (CTCAE v.4.02) in one or both ears.
Results: Of 642 eligible patients (years 2008-2015)
enrolled, 549 received definitive chemoradiation and
93 post-operative chemoradiation. Median age was
57.5 years; 114(18%) were female; sites included
oropharyngeal (OPC; 421(66%)), oral cavity (OC;
105(16%)), laryngeal (56(9%)), hypopharyngeal
(34(5%)) and unknown primary treated as HNSCC
(26(4%)). 63(10%) were stage I-III and 576(90%)
were Stage IV. Only 246 patients received both
baseline and follow-up hearing tests, of which 142
(22% of 642) exhibited significant ototoxicity (94
bilateral/48 unilateral). None received prolonged
courses of other ototoxic agents to explain hearing
loss. Hearing loss was significantly higher (each
p<0.001) for OPCs (27% of 421) compared to all
others (13% of 221); high dose (24% of 557) vs.
low-dose weekly cisplatin (6% of 78); and definitive
(24%) vs. post-op chemoradiation (9%).
Conclusions: Hearing loss in 22% of HNSCC pa-
tients is clinically significant. The true proportion of
hearing loss will be higher, as only 38% had base-
line and follow-up hearing tests, often triggered by
symptoms. Baseline and follow-up hearing tests
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
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should be routine, and primary preventive hearing
loss strategies should be emphasized.
21. Migraine treatment patterns and opioid
utilization among chronic and episodic migraine
patients identified by a clinician-administered semi-
structured diagnostic interview
Yu JS
1
, Pavlovic JM
2
, Silberstein SD
3
, Reed ML
4
,
Kawahara SH
5
, Cowan RP
6
, Dabbous F
7
, Campbell
KL
1
, Pulicharam R
5
, Viswanathan HN
1
, Lipton RB
8
1
Allergan plc, Irvine, CA;
2
Montefiore Medical
Center, Bronx, NY;
3
Jefferson Headache Center,
Philadelphia, PA;
4
Vedanta Research, Chapel Hill,
NC;
5
DaVita Medical Group, El Segundo, CA;
6
Stan-
ford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA;
7
Independent Consultant, La Jolla, CA;
8
Montefiore
Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine,
Bronx, NY
monica.elmore@allergan.com
Background: The objective was to describe
migraine treatment patterns and opioid utilization in
chronic migraine (CM) and episodic migraine (EM)
patients.
Methods: Eligible patients were enrolled from a
large medical group, 18 years, and had 1 claim with a
migraine diagnosis in the 12 months prior to screen-
ing. A physician-administered Semi- Structured
Diagnostic Interview, which included questions
related to headache symptoms, frequency, disability,
medication use, and diagnosis, was used to classify
patients as CM or EM. Acute treatment for migraine,
preventive treatment for migraine, opioid treatment,
and baseline characteristics were assessed in the
12 months prior to the study enrollment date.
Results: Of the 192 patients, 129 had CM and 63
had EM. The CM cohort had a mean age of 49.4
(SD=12.6) years and was 93.8% female. The EM
cohort had a mean age of 48.9 (SD=15.4) years
and was 82.5% female. 67.4% of CM and 55.6%
of EM patients had 1 claim for both acute and pre-
ventive medications. 53.5% of CM and 36.5% of
EM patients had 1 opioid claim (P<0.05); the mean
number of opioid claims was 4.0 (SD=7.1) among
CM and 2.8 (SD=8.2) among EM patients (P<0.05).
33.3% of CM and 15.9% of EM patients had 3 opioid
claims. 13.2% of CM and 7.9% of EM patients had a
pain diagnosis code.
Conclusions: Over half of CM patients and about
a third of EM patients received an opioid prescrip-
tion in the past year. Treatment patterns, particu-
larly in CM patients, indicate opportunities for better
management.
22. Pharmaceutical outcome-based pricing and
reimbursement agreements: lessons learned from
key international markets in Australia, Canada,
Europe and the United States.
Grubert N
1
, Gran-Ruaz S
2
, Hughes A
2
, Tims K
2
, Aly-
ward, B
2
, Mani A
2
, O’Quinn S
2
1
Independent global market access consultant
2
MORSE Consulting Inc
avery@morseconsulting.ca
Background: Health technology assessments are
used by many jurisdictions worldwide to measure
the value of new medicines. However, even after
undertaking such reviews, many questions remain
at the forefront of payers™ minds: How can uncer-
tainty at launch regarding a new drug’s real value be
overcome? What is needed to ensure a medicine is
used by the right patients in the real world? How can
spending on the drug be contained for the patient
population? Payers in various markets are currently
exploring the use of outcomes-based pricing and
reimbursement arrangements (OPRAs) to mitigate
risks at launch and expedite patient access.
Methods: A comprehensive literature review of the
trends, challenges, and opportunities in key inter-
national markets was conducted by the authors to
provide clarity on the feasibility of such innovative
outcomes-based agreements. Specifically, the payer
reimbursement environment in Australia, Canada,
Europe, and the United States was explored for this
analysis.
Results: Although there was congruence as to the
therapies that are appropriate for negotiation of such
agreements, jurisdictions vary significantly on lev-
els of experience and methodologies/data sources
used. Challenges include system limitations,
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
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resource availability, administrative burden, and the
presence of existing agreements.
Conclusions: Given the variability in health sys-
tems, resources, and priorities, it is difficult to gen-
eralize learnings from one market and apply them
to another. The authors have, therefore, developed
a checklist of questions to support payer decision
making in identifying when the use of OPRAs is
most appropriate.
23. Clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
(ASCVD): patient attitudes and awareness in
Canada
Rogoza RM
1
, Tai M-H
2
, Shepherd J
3
, Bailey H
3
,
Fairbairn M
1
1
Amgen Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
2
Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, California, United
States,
3
Adelphi Real World, Macclesfield, UK
rrogoza@amgen.com
Background: As a leading cause of morbidity and
mortality in Canada, cardiovascular (CV) disease
has a profound effect on the lives of patients. The
purpose of this study was to describe patient charac-
teristics, treatment patterns and disease awareness
of Canadian patients with dyslipidemia receiving
lipid-lowering therapy (LLT).
Methods: A physician and patient (pt) survey was
conducted in Canada from January to April 2017
through the Adelphi Dyslipidemia Disease Specific
Programme. Participating physicians provided infor-
mation on treated dyslipidemia pts, with the same pt
completing Pt-reported forms containing questions
on their condition, its impact and disease awareness.
Pts with ASCVD were systematically over-sampled.
Key outcome measures included: pt characteristics,
treatment patterns and pt disease awareness.
Results: The study included 67 physicians, pro-
viding data on 230 ASCVD and 367 non-ASCVD
pts. ASCVD pts were older and were more often
diagnosed by a cardiologist. ASCVD pts had more
comorbidities, and were taking higher dose statins.
LDL-C was not optimized in all patients (mean
2.38mmol/L). Despite a high disease burden,
disease awareness was low; only two thirds of pts
recalled discussing CV risk with their doctor and
one fifth knew their LDL-C values. Finally, ASCVD
pts were more likely to have their work productiv-
ity, daily activities and quality of life (QoL) impacted
than non-ASCVD pts.
Conclusion: Canadian pts with dyslipidemia may
not be optimally managed or educated about their
disease, and ASCVD pts have worse QoL than
non-ASCVD pts. Further efforts are needed to
improve patient education and disease awareness.
24. Innovation for whom? A systematic literature
review on incidence and prevalence of severe
migraine subtypes in North America to understand
the market for emerging migraine therapies
Ackroyd T, Avramioti D, Syed I, and Hancock-
Howard R.
Amaris Consulting Ltd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
rebecca.hancock-howard@amaris.com
Objectives: Migraine is the second most burden-
some disease globally. The only Health Canada
approved therapy with an indication for migraine
is Botox; additional treatment options are needed.
Monoclonal antibodies (MABs) are potential prophy-
lactic treatments for migraine, currently in phase III
development, specifically for severe migraineurs
with high frequency episodic (HFEM) and chronic
migraine (CM) subtypes. An understanding of
the epidemiology of severe migraine subtypes is
needed to estimate the patient populations poten-
tially eligible for these new treatments.
Methods: A systematic literature review was per-
formed with the following strategy (run in EMBASE
on 09/01/2018): terms for HFEM and CM popula-
tions, observational study design filter, outcomes of
interest (i.e. incidence and prevalence), and publi-
cation date restriction 2008-2018. Epidemiological
studies presenting incidence and prevalence data
for HEFM and CM in North America were included.
Results: Of 371 unique hits, inclusion criteria was
met by four cross-sectional survey studies from the
United States reporting prevalence data for CM. The
total number of returned surveys across the four
studies was 249,277. The prevalence of CM in the
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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©2018 CAPT.
e47
general population varied among included studies,
ranging from 0.025% to 1.79%. Where reported,
the prevalence of CM was higher in females and
peaked at midlife. No epidemiologic data on HFEM
were identified in North America.
Conclusion: Limited data exists regarding the inci-
dence and prevalence of severe migraine subtypes,
especially related to HFEM. No publications on
the epidemiology of HFEM or CM in Canada were
identified. Further research is needed to assess the
epidemiology of the migraine subtypes.
25. Population-based study of orchiectomy
treatment for prostate cancer in Quebec
Hu J
1
, Aprikian A
1
, Dragomir A
1
Division of Urology, McGill University
jason.hu@mail.mcgill.ca
Background: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)
can be delivered either surgically by orchiectomy
or medically via luteinizing hormone-releasing hor-
mone (LHRH) drugs. They are considered thera-
peutically equivalent in the treatment of advanced
prostate cancer (PCa). The objective is to describe
the use of orchiectomy for PCa and analyze factors
associated with orchiectomy treatment over medical
castration in Quebec.
Methods: The cohort consists of PCa patients from
2004-2012 and treated by ADT (either by LHRH
drugs or by orchiectomy), extracted from a random
sample from Quebec public healthcare insurance
databases. The primary study outcome was the
use of orchiectomy. Multivariable logistic regression
analysis was performed to identify variables associ-
ated with orchiectomy treatment.
Results: We identified 7096 patients treated by ADT,
of which 106 (1.5%) underwent orchiectomy. Fol-
lowing multivariable analyses, age (odds ratio [OR]
1.60, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06 -2.43) and
Charlson comorbidity score (OR 1.09, 95%CI 1.01-
1.17) were associated with increased odds of orchi-
ectomy. Conversely, local radical treatment prior to
ADT initiation (OR 0.18, 95%CI 0.07-0.46) and res-
idence in a region with university-affiliated hospitals
(OR 0.39, 95%CI 0.26-0.58) were associated with
lower odds. Also, year of ADT initiation was asso-
ciated with lower odds of orchiectomy (OR 0.88 for
each increasing year, 95%CI 0.81-0.95).
Conclusion: A minority of PCa patients are treated
by orchiectomy in Quebec. These men were likely to
be older, more comorbid, not treated by local radical
treatment, living in a region not serviced by a uni-
versity-affiliated hospital, and initiated ADT in ear-
lier years compared to patients treated by medical
castration.
26. Systematic review and critical assessment
of the literature on methodologies of indirect
comparison of health technologies: Matching-
Adjusted Indirect Comparisons (MAIC)
Bini C
1
, Marcellusi A
1,2
, Mennini F
1,2
, Hojjati M
3
, Ver-
nia M
4
1
Economic Evaluation and HTA (CEIS-EEHTA) Fac-
ulty of Economics, University of Rome,
2
Institute for
Leadership and Management in Health, Kingstone
University,
3
Takeda Canada Inc.
4
Takeda Italia
S.p.A.
michelle.hojjati@takeda.com
As more therapeutic options emerge within the same
therapeutic area, there is often a lack of evidence
from head-to-head clinical trials that directly com-
pare the safety and efficacy of a drug with the
standard of care. Several statistical methods have
been developed to allow for indirect comparison be-
tween different therapeutic alternatives that affect
the same therapeutic area. Among these, one of the
most commonly considered by regulatory bodies is
the method of Matching-Adjusted Indirect Compari-
sons (MAIC). The goal of this study was to evaluate
the applications of the MAIC method by HTA in order
to understand its usefulness to health care decision
making. The research was performed through a sys-
tematic review of the literature using the MEDLINE
electronic database (Pubmed) and included data
from HTA databases (specifically CADTH, NICE,
SMC, and PBAC). Publications that reported the
details of the MAIC methodology for various thera-
peutic areas were captured. Per PRISMA 2 guideli
ne methodology, 50 studies identified and 11 were
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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included following screening. Of these, 2 were
CADTH-specific assessments: Intuniv XR (ADHD)
and Daklinza (Hepatitis C). Indirect comparisons
represent a valuable tool for comparing technol-
ogies in the absence of head-to-head trials. Their
quality will depend on several factors including the
method of analysis, and the validity of the underlying
assumptions. The MAIC method can provide useful
information to support HTA decision-making when a
head-to-head trial compared to standard of care is
unavailable.
27. Clinical and Economic Burden of
Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD)
in Ontario, Canada
Pericleous L
1
, Goodman SG
2
, Oh P
3
, Rogoza RM
1
,
Colgan S
1
, Hume M
1
, and Goeree R
4
1
Amgen Canada Inc.,
2
St. Michael’s Hospital,
University of Toronto,
3
University Health Network,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
4
Goeree Consulting Ltd
louisa.pericleous@amgen.com
Objectives: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
(ASCVD) is a leading cause of morbidity, mortality,
and economic burden in Canada. The objectives
of this study were to characterize patients who ex-
perienced a primary ASCVD event and to quantify
subsequent events and associated costs within a
10-year period.
Methods: Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
(ICES) datasets were used to identify adult patients
with a primary ASCVD event using ICD-diagnostic
codes for hospital admissions in Ontario. Patients
were included in the study cohort if they had a pri-
mary event from April 1st 2005 to March 31st 2014.
Data were collected for second and subsequent
hospitalization and outpatient event(s) (2005-2015).
Specific ASCVD events of interest were myocardial
infarction (MI), stroke, and transient ischemic at-
tack (TIA).
Results: The mean age of the cohort was 65 years
and 54% of patients were male. Hypertension
(64%) and diabetes (27%) were the most common
comorbidities. The annua l incidence of a primary
MI, stroke or TIA event generally decreased or
remained stable over time, whereas the incidence
of subsequent events trended upwards. The to-
tal mean annual cost per patient in the first year
post-primary event was $14,179, $36,899, and
$51,892 for TIA, MI, and stroke, respectively, and
generally decreased over time.
Conclusion: Patients in Ontario who experience a
primary ASCVD event remain at high risk for future
episodes. Further analyses to identify populations
who may benefit from intensified risk reduction strat-
egies are warranted.
28. Moving towards universal coverage of direct-
acting antiviral therapies for hepatitis C infection
in Canada: an environmental scan of provincial
and international jurisdictions
Myers S, Khosa G, Kuo I, Alessi-Severini S
University of Manitoba, College of Pharmacy
myerss34@myumanitoba.ca
Background: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have
become the standard treatment for patients with
chronic hepatitis C infections because of their high
cure rates and favourable side effect profiles; how-
ever, access to this new class of agents has been
limited because of its high cost. While public pay-
ers across Canada have implemented strict criteria
for drug coverage in order to contain expenditures,
efforts have been made to provide treatment cov-
erage as to improve access to medication for this
high-burden condition. This environmental scan
compares recent coverage criteria across national
and international jurisdictions.
Methods: Coverage criteria for Daklinza, Epclusa,
Sunvepra, Galexos, Harvoni, Sovaldi, Holkira Pak,
Zepatier, Maviret, Technivie, and Vosevi were
reviewed by accessing Canadian provincial drug
formularies. International coverage (e.g., Europe,
Australia, United States, Egypt, India) was reviewed
by searching available literature.
Results: Coverage criteria vary across Canada but
all provincial payers (except PEI) provide coverage
for Daklinza and Zepatier. By April 2018, all Cana-
dian jurisdictions, except Nova Scotia, New Brun-
swick, and Newfoundland & Labrador, had removed
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
e49
the stage 2 liver fibrosis requirement for patients to
be eligible for coverage. Internationally, patient’s
access to DAAs differs significantly. Many jurisdic-
tions restrict DAA prescribing authority to specialists
and request documentation of chronic hepatitis C.
In Australia all patients appear to have unrestricted
access to DAAs. In the US, considerable gaps of
coverage are identifiable and patients might face
significant financial burden to receive treatment.
Conclusion: DAAs appear to be generally accessi-
ble through public drug plans in Canada compared
to other countries.
29. Longitudinal changes in relative market share
proportions of biologic and targeted synthetic
disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs for
treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: descriptive data
from the Ontario best-practice research initiative
database
Hepworth E
1
, Movahedi M
2
, Rampakakis E
2
, Mirza
R
1
, Lau A
3
, Cesta A
2,
Pope J
4
, Sampalis J.S
2
, Bom-
bardier C
2,5,6
and OBRI investigators
1
Department of Internal Medicine, McMaster Uni-
versity, Hamilton, ON;
2
Toronto General Hospi-
tal Research Institute, University Health Network,
Toronto, ON;
3
Divisions of Rheumatology, De-
partment of Medicine, Hamilton, ON;
4
Divisions of
Rheumatology, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, De-
partment of medicine, Western University, London,
ON;
5
Department of Medicine (DOM) and Institute
of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation (IH-
PME), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON; 6Division
of Rheumatology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON.
elliot.hepworth@medportal.ca
Background/Purpose: For patients with Rheuma-
toid Arthritis (RA) without adequate clinical response
to conventional synthetic disease modifying
anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs), the next therapy
is either biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs) or targeted
synthetic DMARDs (tsDMARDs). bDMARDs include
tumour-necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) or non-TNFi
classes. Since inception of Ontario Best Practice
Research Initiative (OBRI), new treatment options
have become available. We describe evolving use
of non-TNFi vs. TNFi in Ontario practices from
2008-2017.
Methods: Adult patients with RA enrolled in OBRI
who started bDMARDs/tsDMARDs anytime during,
or up to 30 days before, enrollment were included.
The yearly proportion of the population treated with
TNFi and non-TNFi therapy was measured for (i) all
patients and (ii) those initiating their first bDMARD/
tsDMARD. TNFi included: Etanercept, Adalimumab,
Certolizumab, Golimumab, and Infliximab. Non-
TNFi included: Abatacept, Rituximab, Tocilizumab,
and Tofacitinib.
Results: A total of 1,057 patients were included of
whom 653 were bDMARD/tsDMARD naive. In 2008,
the relative non-TNFi use was 3/56 (5.4%) in all
patients and 0/31 (0%) in treatment-naive patients.
By 2016, relative use was 224/679 (33.0%) in all
patients and 17/56 (30.4%) in treatment-naive. This
was followed by 144/426 (33.8%) and 4/15 (26.7%),
respectively in 2017.
Conclusion: This descriptive analysis shows an
increase in non-TNFi therapy use. The overall
trend towards greater use of non-TNFi therapies
as first line advanced therapeutics may be partially
explained by recent guidelines allowing clinicians to
select either class as first line advanced therapies.
Future analyses evaluating patient-, disease- and
concomitant drug use-specific determinants of phy-
sician decision-making will be conducted.
30. Higher drug cost for pregabalin/gabapentin
shouldn’t dissuade clinicians from prescribing
this intervention in spinal cord injured individuals
for neuropathic pain
Chan B
1
, Wodchis W
1,2
, Craven C
1,3
1
Toronto Rehabilitation Institute - University Health
Network,
2
Institute for Health Policy Management
and Evaluation - University of Toronto,
3
Department
of Medicine - University of Toronto
brian.chan@uhn.ca
Background: Canadian guidelines for treatment
of neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury (SCI) rec-
ommend pregabalin or gabapentin as first-line
therapy followed by amitriptyline. To understand the
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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economic impact of this recommendation we eval-
uated the health care costs of SCI individuals with
neuropathic pain prescribed pregabalin/gabapentin
compared to amitriptyline.
Methods: Former patients of a tertiary SCI rehabil-
itation facility in Ontario, Canada were recruited to
participate in a one year prospective study evalu-
ating health care utilization, costs and health out-
comes. Participants were over 18 years of age,
C1-T12, AIS A-D, injury duration greater than 1 year
with neuropathic pain and attended quarterly phone
follow-up. Information collected include: hospitaliza-
tions, physician visits, other health care practitioner
visits, drugs prescribed and equipment. Data was
converted to 2016 Canadian costs using publicly
available sources.
Results: Seventeen individuals were prescribed
pregabalin/gabapentin and 7 amitriptyline. Median
monthly cost for pain-related prescription drugs was
$102 for pregabalin/gabapentin and $66 for amitrip-
tyline. However, total median monthly healthcare
costs were $1,987 for pregabalin/gabapentin and
$3,357 for amitriptyline. Greatest cost differential
was observed in emergency department ($1,211
for amitriptyline and $0 for pregabalin/gabapentin)
and mobility equipment/device ($207 for amitripty-
line and $0 for pregabalin/gabapentin). There was
no difference in physiotherapy and occupational
therapy costs. Results were limited to self-report of
costs for a small case series in Ontario.
Conclusions: Higher prescription drug costs for
pregabalin/gabapentin were not the primary cost
driver for monthly healthcare costs. Higher total
healthcare costs for amitriptyline were driven by
higher emergency department visits and mobility
equipment/device purchases.
31. Health Utilities Index Mark 3 scores for major
chronic conditions: population norms for canada
based on the 2013-2014 Canadian Community
Health Survey
Guertin JR
1,2
, Humphries B
3
, Feeny D
4,5,6
, Tarride
JE
3,4,6,7
1
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine,
Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City,
Quebec, Canada,
2
Centre de recherche du CHU de
Québec – Université Laval, Axe Santé des Popula-
tions et Pratiques Optimales en Santé, Hôpital du
Saint-Sacrement, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada,
3
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence
and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster
University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
,
4
Department
of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, McMas-
ter University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ,
5
Health
Utilities Incorporated, Dundas, Ontario, Canada,
6
Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis
(CHEPA), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada,
7
Programs for Assessment of Technol-
ogy in Health (PATH), The Research Institute of St.
Joe’s Hamilton, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada
jason.guertin@fmed.ulaval.ca
Background: Utility scores are frequently used as
preference weights when estimating quality-adjusted
life-years within cost-utility analyses or health-
adjusted life expectancies. Though previous Cana-
dian estimates for specific chronic conditions have
been produced, these may no longer reflect current
patient populations.
Methods: Data from the 2013-2014 Canadian
Community Health Survey were used to provide
Canadian utility score norms for seventeen chronic
conditions. Utility scores were estimated using the
Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) instrument and
were reported as weighted average (95% confi-
dence intervals [95% CI]) values. In addition to age
and sex-stratified analyses, results were also strat-
ified according to the number of reported chronic
conditions (i.e., “none” to “≥5”). All results were
weighted using sampling and bootstrapped weights
provided by Statistics Canada.
Results: Utility scores were estimated for 123,654
(97.2%) respondents (weighted frequency =
29,337,370 [97.7%]). Of the chronic conditions that
were examined, “Asthma” had the least detrimental
effect (weighted average utility score = 0.803 [95%CI
0.795 – 0.811]) on respondents’ utility scores and
“Alzheimer’s disease or any other dementia” had
the worst (weighted average utility score = 0.374
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
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©2018 CAPT.
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[95%CI 0.323 – 0.426]). Respondents who reported
suffering from no chronic conditions had, on aver-
age, the highest utility scores (weighted average util-
ity score = 0.928 [95%CI 0.926 – 0.930]); estimates
dropped as a function of the number of reported
chronic conditions.
Conclusion: Utility score differed between various
chronic conditions and as a function of the number
of reported chronic conditions. Results also highlight
several differences with previously published Cana-
dian utility norms
32. The development of a chronic disease
incidence prediction model for Ontario public
health planning
Ng R
1
, Sutradhar R
2
, Wodchis WP
2,3
, Rosella LC
1,2
:
1
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of
Toronto,
2
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences,
3
Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evalua-
tion,
3
University of Toronto
ry.ng@mail.utoronto.ca
Background: Informed decision-making by pub-
lic health officials is needed when planning for the
future burden of chronic disease in the population.
A prediction model that accurately predicts the inci-
dence of chronic disease in a jurisdiction based on
current population characteristics would be invalua-
ble towards decision-making.
Methods: The Ontario version of the Canadian
Community Health Survey was linked to health ad-
ministrative data to predict the incidence of chronic
disease over a fifteen-year period. Sixteen varia-
bles, including: modifiable lifestyle behaviors (e.g.,
alcohol, smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity),
sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, ethnicity, in-
come) and other health-related factors (e.g., body
mass index) were used as predictors. Sex-specific
prediction models were developed using Weibull re-
gression models for males and females separately.
The performances of the prediction models were
evaluated based on measures of overall predictive
accuracy, discrimination and calibration.
Results: The derivation cohort consisted of 47,960
females and 38,267 males. For both sexes, the
overall predictive performance and discrimina-
tion improved when sociodemographic and other
health-related predictors were added to the base
model consisting of only modifiable lifestyle be-
haviors. Using the male model as an example,
Nagelkerke™s R2 (0.036 to 0.152) and the Harrell’s
c-statistic (0.627 to 0.778) improved with more
predictors; however, calibration as measured with
the Greenwood-Nam-D’Agostino statistic (p-value
<.0001) and calibration plots indicated underfitting
in lower-risk groups.
Conclusions: Overall, the derivation models pre-
dicted the incidence of chronic disease well for both
sexes. The next steps are to further improve the
predictive accuracy of the model followed by model
validation.
33. Patient preferences among individuals
with type 2 diabetes for attributes of diabetes
medications: a discrete choice experiment
Donnan J MSC
1
, Marra CA PharMD, PHD
1,2
, Bassler
KA MD
3
, Johnston K PHD
1
, Najafzadeh M PHD
4
,
Swab M
3
, Nguyen H PHD
1
, Gamble JM PHD
1,5
1
School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, St. John’s,
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada,
2
School of
Pharmacy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zea-
land,
3
Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University,
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada,
4
Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA,
5
School of Pharmacy,
University of Waterloo, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
jennifer.donnan@mun.ca
Objective: To estimate the trade-offs that patients
with type 2 diabetes (T2D) make between attributes
of glucose-lowering medications using a discrete
choice experiment.
Methods: Eight relevant attributes were identified
using a literature review, focus groups and interviews
with patients and clinicians. A sample of Canadians
with T2D, recruited through a survey company, com-
pleted 14 choice tasks. A multinomial logit model
was used to estimate the weights of each attribute.
Willingness-to-pay was used to assess trade-offs
between attributes.
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
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Results: A total of 513 individuals completed the
survey. Average age was 59 years (SD=12), 59%
were male, 55% had tried two or more oral medi-
cations, and 62% had diabetes for at least 6 years.
All attributes were found to significantly influence
choice. On average patients were willing-to-pay a
monthly cost for their therapy of: $135 to achieve
three additional years of life; $48 and $36 for a 20%
reduction in their risk of macrovascular and micro-
vascular events respectively; $37 for a 1% drop in
HbA1C; $32 for a 50% less risk of severe hypogly-
cemia over 10 years; $28 for a 50% less risk of a
minor side effect; and $19 for a 50% less risk of a
rare but serious side effect over 10 years.
Conclusion: All eight examined attributes were
shown to significantly influence choice with cost and
life expectancy carrying the most weight, and seri-
ous and minor side effects carrying the least weight.
34. Predictors of hip fracture among patients
with inflammatory arthritis receiving chronic oral
glucocorticoid therapy
Shakeri A
1
, Amine Amiche M
1
, Levesque LE
1
,
Gomes T
1
, Adachi JD
2
, Cadarette SM
1
University of
Toronto,
2
McMaster University
ahmad.shakeri@mail.utoronto.ca
Objective: Oral glucocorticoids (GCs) rapidly in-
duce bone loss and increase fracture risk. Predic-
tors of fracture among oral GC users have not been
examined by underlying indication. We aimed to
identify predictors of hip fracture risk among patients
with inflammatory arthritis receiving chronic oral GC
therapy.
Method: We identified patients with inflammatory
arthritis (gout, lupus, polymyalgia rheumatica, rheu-
matoid arthritis) aged 66 or more years taking oral
GCs using Ontario public healthcare administrative
data, 1998/01/01-2014/09/30. We included patients
who dispensed 2 oral GC prescriptions totalling
450 mg prednisone equivalent using a 6-month as-
certainment window. GC exposure was quantified
during the ascertainment window by dose (mean
daily, cumulative) and pattern (continuous, intermit-
tent or sporadic). Index date was defined at the end
of the ascertainment window. Medical and pharmacy
claim were used to define fracture risk factors within
the year prior to index. We used Cox proportional
hazard models to identify predictors of hip fracture
within 1 year following the index date.
Results: We identified 23,065 eligible patients
(mean age=74.6 years, SD=6.4; 64% women).
Average daily dose, cumulative dose and pattern
of GC use were not associated with fracture risk.
Rather, older age, rheumatoid arthritis, fracture his-
tory, stroke, antidepressant use and opioid use were
associated with increased hip fracture risk and male
sex was protective.
Conclusion: Controlling for GC exposure, risk fac-
tors for hip fracture parallel those commonly reported
among patients without inflammatory arthritis. Of
interest, among patients with inflammatory arthritis,
patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at highest risk
of hip fracture.
35. Disinvestment decision-making using value of
information analysis: a hypothetical case study
Ball G, O’Reilly D
McMaster University
ballga@mcmaster.ca
Background: Prudent health technology manage-
ment involves allocation of financial resources to-
ward technologies with high assessed value and
away from those of low assessed value. Value of
information (VoI) analysis may be practical for pri-
oritizing cost-ineffective technologies for disinvest-
ment.This research illustrates an application of VoI
analysis to select the most appropriate disinvest-
ment candidate using cost-effectiveness models of
everolimus for advanced breast cancer (ABC) and
bevacizumab for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer
(PROC) in Canada.
Methods: The following comparative per-patient
and population-level VoI analyses were conducted.
Expected value of perfect information (EVPI) was
estimated to assess the value of reducing cost-
effectiveness uncertainty. Expected value of perfect
information for parameters (EVPPI) was assessed
to identify the type of additional research required
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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©2018 CAPT.
e53
to reduce uncertainty. Expected net benefit of 1
sampling (ENBS) was calculated to estimate the
overall value of disinvesting each health technology,
respectively. The technology with highest ENBS
should be prioritized for disinvestment.
Results: Per-patient EVPI of everolimus for ABC
($9,378) was higher than that of bevacizumab for
PROC ($2,531). Analyses of EVPPI indicated that
clinical trials were the most appropriate method for
reducing uncertainty. The population-level ENBS
was found to be substantially higher for everolimus
($1,615,253,171) compared with bevacizumab
($10,320,497).
Conclusion: Results suggested that bevacizumab
for PROC should be prioritized for disinvestment
over everolimus for ABC. Decision-making uncer-
tainty may be minimized by prioritizing disinvestment
candidate technologies according to the likelihood
that additional information changes cost-ineffec-
tiveness status. In this way, VoI analysis may be a
useful analytical guide for informing healthcare tech-
nology management.
36. Disease-specific costs of non- metastatic and
metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in
Quebec
Yanev I
1
, Aprikian A
1
, Nablsi E
1
, Primiani J
1
, Vaillan-
court Z
1
, Bremner K
2
, Carcone S
2
, Mitsakakis N
2
,
Ryan W
2
, Krahn M
2
, & Dragomir A
1
1
McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada,
2
Toronto
Health Economics and Technology Assessment
(THETA) Collaborative, Toronto General Hospital
Research Institute, University Health Network
yanev.ivan@mail.mcgill.ca
Objectives: Estimate the disease specific costs of
prostate cancer patients during the health states
of nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate can-
cer (NM-CRPC) and metastatic castration-resistant
prostate cancer (M-CRPC).
Methods: This cohort analysis contains 211 pros-
tate cancer patients from the MUHC. An algorithm
of detecting NM-CRPC and M-CRPC was based on
increases of prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels
after castration and the detection of metastasis. The
usage of imagery tests, hospital visits and treat-
ments was extracted from the patients files and
the mean usage per resource was calculated for
30 days in the given health state. Resources price
were obtained from the RAMQ List of Medications
when available, when unavailable prices were ob-
tained from the MUHC internal prices lists. This
cost analysis was performed by health care system
perspective.
Results: Mean duration of NM-CRPC was 26.07
months while duration of M-CRPC was 20.79
months, with 62 and 6 8 patients per health
state respectfully. The average disease specific
resource utilisation per patient for 30 days was
$786 for NM-CRPC and $2,210 for M-CRPC
health states with the cost driver being chemo-
therapy or prescription drugs different than ADT.
The total average cost for NM-CRPC health state
was $20,457 compared to $45,956 for M-CRPC
health state.
Conclusions: The disease specific resource utilisa-
tion costs for a patient in M-CRPC are significantly
higher than the costs of NM-CRPC. This being said
it would be interesting to study the total healthcare
costs from a societal perspective in order to improve
the cost management of PCa.
37. The use and effects of ehealth tools for patient
self-monitoring and reporting of outcomes
following medication use: a systematic review
Lancaster K
1
, Abuzour A
2
, Khaira M
2,4
, Mathers A
2
,
Chan A
1
, Bui V
3,4
, Lok A
1
, Thabane L
1
, Dolovich L
1,2,4
1
McMaster University,
2
University of Toronto,
3
Sun-
nybrook Health Sciences,
4
University of Waterloo
mkhaira@edu.uwaterloo.ca
Background: ehealth tools are becoming increas-
ingly popular for helping patients self-manage
chronic conditions. Little research has examined
the effect of ehealth tools for patient self-report-
ing on medication management. This review aims
to evaluate whether ehealth tools featuring patient
self-reporting of symptoms and adverse effects
are effective at promoting medication changes and
improving patient outcomes.
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
e54
Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL
were searched from Jan 1, 2000 through to April
25, 2018. References were also searched. Title,
abstract and full text review, as well as data abstrac-
tion and risk of bias assessment were performed in
duplicate. Due to high heterogeneity, results were
not meta-analyzed, and instead presented as a
narrative synthesis.
Results: Thirteen randomized controlled trials
(RCTs) and one open-label intervention were
included, from which eleven unique ehealth tools
were identified. Four RCTs found statistically signif-
icant increases in positive medication changes as
a result of using ehealth tools. Eight RCTs found
improvement in patient symptoms following ehealth
tool use, especially in adolescent asthma patients.
Three RCTs showed that ehealth tools may improve
patient self-efficacy and self-management of chronic
disease. Little or no evidence was found to sup-
port the effectiveness of ehealth tools at improving
medication recommendations and reconciliation by
clinicians, medication-use behaviour, health service
utilization, quality of life, or patient satisfaction.
Conclusions: Initial evidence showing ehealth tools
may improve patient symptoms and lead to medi-
cation changes is promising, however more high-
quality research is needed to explore how ehealth
tools can be used to effectively manage use of med-
ications to improve patient outcomes.
38. The pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance:
how policy, governance and process changes are
affecting public drug plan reimbursement
Chambers J, Dempster W
3
Sixty Public Affairs Inc.
wdempster@3sixtypublicaffairs.com
Increasingly, the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical
Alliance (pCPA) has become the key forum for in-
terjurisdictional dialogue and action on pharma-
ceutical policy issues. Since its generic pricing
agreement achieved earlier this year, the alliance
has turned more of its attention to single-source
medicines, leading to the launch of new brand pro-
cess guidelines in June 2018. This presentation will:
1) explore how the evolving pCPA is affecting the
Canadian pharmaceutical marketplace; 2) examine
what recent developments tell us about the future
state of public reimbursement for medicines; and
3) consider what else may lie ahead for the pCPA.
In addition, we will identify issues arising from the
process guidelines, including gaps and opportuni-
ties. This presentation will update CAPT members
on the latest data regarding pCPAs negotiations
and their impact on the public reimbursement of
new innovative medicines in Canada. It will build on
3Sixty’s previous analyses that were presented
at CA PT 2016. Among the relevant trends we will
explore are the impact of Quebec’s participation in
pCPA negotiations on the availability of new inno-
vative medicines in that province, therapeutic class
negotiations, the growing number of negotiations
that lead to closed files without agreement and how
long new medicines wait in the queue before negoti-
ations are undertaken. We will also review the politi-
cal, health policy, economic and legal aspects of the
pCPA and provide a number of considerations for
how pCPA can continue to evolve in the context of
other national issues, such as national pharmacare.
39. Prevalence and characteristics of hospitalized
patients on opioid therapy and risk of re-
admissions and emergency department visits
associated with opioid use in the 90 days post-
discharge using Cox proportional hazards model
Kurteva S
1,2
, Weir DL
1,2
, Lee TC
3,4
, Tamblyn R
1,2,4
1
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Oc-
cupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC,
Canada.
2
Clinical and Health Informatics Research
Group, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
3
Division of Infectious Diseases and Department
of Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Mon-
treal, QC, Canada.
4
Department of Medicine, McGill
University, Montreal, QC, Canada
siyana.kurteva@mail.mcgill.ca
Background: Canada is the world second largest
consumer of opioids. As the number of opioid
prescriptions has increased over the past two
decades, the country has witnessed an increase
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
e55
in hospitalizations resulting from opioid poison-
ings. Our main objective was to evaluate opioid
use for patients admitted to surgical and hospital
units at two tertiary hospitals in Montreal and their
associated risk of emergency department (ED)
visits and hospital re-admissions in the 90 days
post-discharge.
Methods: Multiple sources of data were assembled
and linked including patient demographics, medical
services and prescription claims from the Quebec
provincial healthcare databases to describe the
clinical profile of patients on opioids. Time- varying
opioid use was measured by using dispensing phar-
macy records of filled opioid prescriptions post-
discharge and was modeled as current, continuous
and cumulative duration of use using Cox propor-
tional hazards models. All analyses were adjusted
for age, chronic conditions, concomitant medication
use, and history of opioid use.
Results: Overall, half of the patients received an
opioid prescription at discharge, the majority of
whom had no history of opioid use in the one year
prior to admission (67%). We found that opioid use
was associated with a 19% increase in the risk of
ED visits and hospitalizations and the risk increases
when examining longer cumulative or continuous
duration of use.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that long-term
use of opioids after hospitalization may increase the
risk of re-admissions and ED visits and physicians
may need to reassess the optimal duration of treat-
ment with these drugs.
40. Calcium channel blockers and diuretics: A
retrospective cohort study exploring a prescribing
cascade
Visentin JD
1
, Savage RD
1,2
, Gatley JM
2
, Stall N
1,3,5
,
Herrmann, N
3,6
, Gruneir A
1,2,4
, Rochon PA
1-3
, Bron-
skill SE
1-3
, McCarthy LM
1,3
1
Women’s College Hospital,
2
Institute for Clinical
and Evaluative Sciences,
3
University of Toronto,
4
University of Alberta,
5
Mount Sinai Hospital,
6
Sun-
nybrook Health Sciences Centre
jessica.visentin@mail.utoronto.ca
Background: Calcium channel blockers (CCBs)
are commonly prescribed for hypertension. While
their safety profile is generally favourable, CCBs
are known to cause peripheral edema, which can be
distressing for patients and may result in prescrip-
tion of a diuretic. Older adults are particularly sus-
ceptible to adverse events associated with diuretics
(e.g., falls, hypokalemia, acute kidney injury). The
extent to which diuretics are prescribed with CCBs
at a population-level is presently unknown.
This study seeks to: (1) characterize the association
between CCB use and the subsequent receipt of a di-
uretic and (2) identify drug, patient and provider factors
that may be associated with this prescribing cascade.
Methods: A retrospective, population based cohort
study was conducted using health administrative da-
tabases from Ontario, Canada between September
2011 and September 2016 to identify adults aged 66
and older with hypertension and/or coronary artery
disease. Individuals newly dispensed a CCB were
compared to prevalent users of angiotensin-convert-
ing-enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor block-
ers. Individuals were followed for 90 days post-index
date to identify receipt of a loop diuretic. Hazard ra-
tios were estimated using Cox proportional hazard
models adjusting for individual-level characteristics.
Results: Data analysis is ongoing but will be com-
plete before the conference.
Conclusions: Specific conclusions will be submit-
ted subsequently. Due to widespread use of CCBs
and the frequency of CCB-induced peripheral
edema, we expect a large proportion of the popula-
tion may be at risk of experiencing the CCB-diuretic
cascade. Knowledge of the pervasiveness of this
cascade and contributing factors can inform clinical
and policy strategies to improve medication safety.
41. Productivity losses after acute coronary
syndrome events in Canada: an interim analysis
Pandey AS
1
, Gupta M
1
, Mancini J
2
, Fischer A
2
,
Sidelnikov E
3
, Pericleous L
3
1
Department of Medicine, McMaster University,
2
IQVIA,
3
Amgen
varun.myageri@iqvia.com
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
e56
Background: The impact of an acute coronary syn-
drome (ACS) event on a patient’s productivity is not
well characterized. This study describes the produc-
tivity loss following hospitalization for an ACS event
in Canada. This interim analysis was conducted to
investigate early trends in the study findings.
Methods: Patients were enrolled across three sites
in Canada during a routine ambulatory cardiologist
visit 4-18 months post-index ACS hospitalization (my-
ocardial infarction or unstable angina). At enrollment,
study candidates were < 65 years old, had returned
to work 4 weeks following their index ACS hospitali-
zation, and were on a lipid lowering therapy prior to
or at index hospitalization. Baseline characteristics
were collected from medical records, while produc-
tivity loss was collected using a validated survey.
Results: An interim analysis of the study was per-
formed on 44 patients (91% myocardial infarction,
9% unstable angina). Enrolled patients were almost
exclusively male (96%), on average 53.6 years old,
and had an average BMI of 29.1 kg/m2. The total
annual lost productivity from a societal perspective
was 57.5 (SD 56.3) workdays. This was composed
of 45.8 (SD 48.8) days due to missed work, 8.8 (SD
24.8) days due to presenteeism, and 3.0 (SD 19.6)
days attributed to caregiver help.
Conclusion: The results suggest that days taken off
work after discharge are significant for patients who
have experienced an ACS event, and the societal
impact of ACS is high. This study is likely to have
underestimated the impact, as the study population
is of working-age and relatively healthy.
42. Persistence of pharmaceutically-derived
cannabinoid use in Manitoba
Alkabbani W
1
, Marrie RA
2
, Bugden S
1,3
, Alessi-
Severini S
1
, Daeninck P
2
, Leon C
1
1
College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health
Sciences, Apotex Centre, University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg, MB, Canada,
2
Max Rady College of Med-
icine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University
of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada,
3
School of
Pharmacy, Memorial University of Newfoundland,
St John’s, NL, Canada
alkabbaw@myumanitoba.ca
Aim: This study aims to assess the persistence of
use of pharmaceutically-derived cannabinoid agents
and assess the potential socio-demographic char-
acteristics and medical conditions associated with
discontinuation of use.
Methods: This study used administrative data from
April/1st 2004 to March/31st 2017, from the Mani-
toba Population Research Data Repository located
at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP),
University of Manitoba. Incident users were included
and followed for one year from the date of first pre-
scription dispensation. Data were analyzed, using
a competing risk regression model (Cause-specific
hazards model), with death from any cause as the
competing risk, to assess factors that may affect dis-
continuation rates. Time to discontinuation, in days,
was the dependent variable.
Results: Among 7050 pharmaceutical cannabinoid
users, 6835 were incident users. The mean (SD) age
of users was 52.5(15.2) and 59.3% were females.
Only 15.2% of incident users continued using can-
nabinoids after one year. The final regression model
showed that age and income status had a significant
effect on persistence of cannabinoid use. Among all
medical conditions included, fibromyalgia, osteo-
arthritis, and substance abuse disorder had a sig-
nificant effect on discontinuation rates with hazard
ratios (95%CI) of 0.86 (0.81-0.92), 0.85 (0.76-0.94),
0.91 (0.84-0.98), respectively.
Conclusion: In a naturalistic setting, the persis-
tence of prescription cannabinoid use was affected
by age, income, and specific medical conditions
of the incident user. The reason for these ob-
served differences is uncertain and warrants further
investigation.
43. Prevalence and risk factors associated
with persistent use of opioids after surgery: a
meta-analysis
Rehman Y, Guyatt G, Couban R, Busse J
National Pain Center, McMaster University
dry_rehman@yahoo.ca
Objectives: Opioids are commonly prescribed
to manage acute pain after the surgery; however,
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
e57
about 10% continue to consume opioids beyond 90
after the surgery. We will conduct a systematic re-
view and meta-analysis of observational studies to
establish the rate of persistent opioid use after sur-
gery, and explore risk factors associated with opioid
use beyond 90 days after surgery.
Methods: We will report our systematic review ac-
cording to the PRISMA guidelines. We will develop
comprehensive search strategies with no language
restriction, for MEDLINE, PsychINFO, EMBASE and
CINAHL in collaboration with an expert librarian. Liter-
ature screening and data extraction will be performed
by teams of reviewers, independently and in dupli-
cate. When possible, we will pool the association of
all predictors reported by two or more studies with
persistent opioid use after surgery. We will report our
results as odds ratios, absolute risk increase, and as-
sociated 95% confidence interval s (CIs). We will ex-
plore heterogeneity and publication bias by the visual
inspection of forest plot and funnel plots, respectively.
We will explore heterogeneity with a priori subgroup
analyses (e.g. risk of bias, length of follow-up, type
of surgery). The risk of bias will be assessed with cri-
teria proposed by the Users Guides to the Medical
Literature. The quality of evidence will be determined
with the GRADE approach for each predictor.
Clinical Implications: Pain is important sequelae
of surgery. Acute post-operative pain intensity and
prolong opioid use correlates with PPSP; therefore
findings of our study will enhance understanding to
reduce the prevalence PPSP.
44. Leveraging CADTH’s Scientific Advice Program
for early feedback: from phase 2 studies to RWE
Lees M
1
, Selby R
2
, Hojjati M
3
1
Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG,
2
Takeda
Pharmaceuticals International Co.,
3
Takeda Canada
Inc.
michelle.hojjati@takeda.com
Randomized controlled trials are considered the
gold standard for evidence of clinical efficacy and
safety for regulatory and HTA bodies and use in clin-
ical practice. Designing the outright comparative de-
velopment programs that maintain clinical relevance
in rapidly advancing therapeutic areas is becoming
increasingly challenging. CADTH’s Scientific Advice
program engages scientific experts, health econ-
omists, HTA, and patients early in the drug devel-
opment process in order to provide an opportunity
to adjust drug development plans based on advice
from multiple stakeholders. Takeda is currently
seeking scientific advice from the program for a drug
in an area of high unmet need, currently in the pro-
tocol planning stage of phase II study development.
Advice is being sought on the clinical development
program, in order to increase the likelihood that this
innovative medicine will be available for patients as
soon as possible. Although CADTH’s scientific ad-
vice process is non-binding, it has the potential to
provide insight into possible areas of concern in the
proposed study protocol and RWE collection when
modifications are still possible. Takeda’s experience
with the program will be highlighted.
45. Management of post-traumatic stress disorder:
a protocol for a multiple treatment comparison
meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Rehman Y, Guyatt G, McKinnon MC, McCabe RE,
Lanius RA, Richardson JD, Couban R, Busse J
Health Research Methodology, McMaster University
dry_rehman@yahoo.ca
Objectives: We will conduct a network meta-anal-
ysis of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
evaluating therapies for PTSD to determine which
therapies show evidence of promoting functional re-
covery (e.g. return to work), and the relative effec-
tiveness of these treatments.
Methods: We will identify eligible trials, in any lan-
guage, by a systematic search of PILOTS.
46. Proposed changes to the federal patented
medicine pricing rules in canada: case study of a
manufacturers decision-making about regulatory
submission
rawson nsb
Eastlake Research Group, Oakville, Ontario
EastlakeRG@gmail.com
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
e58
Objective: To examine the proposed changes to the
regulations and guidelines of the Patented Medicine
Prices Review Board (PMPRB) and apply them to a
case study of the decision-making process that the
manufacturer of a new rare disorder medication is
likely to go through when assessing whether to seek
regulatory approval in Canada.
Methods: The current and proposed PMPRB guide-
lines are summarized and, using a hypothetical new
rare disorder drug as an example, the potential man-
ufacturer’s decision-making regarding the impact of
the proposed guidelines on its launch is examined.
Results: We assume the new drug will require an
average price reduction to all payers to bring the ef-
fective price down by 80-90% due to the application
of a new basket of comparator countries, pharma-
coeconomic criteria and market size.
Conclusion: What should the manufacturer do
about the drug’s price? Some possible decisions
are: (1) make a huge price reduction at regula-
tory approval, risking pricing in other countries,
(2) launch at the desired price and face a PMPRB
price investigation, (3) delay the launch in Canada
until after other countries, and (4) not to seek reg-
ulatory approval in Canada. The high level of un-
certainty being generated by the proposed changes
in the PMPRB’s guidelines will imperil the launch of
all new medicines in Canada because it will signifi-
cantly decrease the attractiveness of the country as
a priority jurisdiction in which pharmaceutical com-
panies seek regulatory approval for innovative new
products.
47. Assessing the emotional, physical, and
financial burden of caregivers for persons with
dementia
Baker AR, Tran F, Pisterzi LF, Mittmann N, Lam B,
Black SE.
Sunnybrook Research Institute
Luca.pisterzi@sunnybrook.ca
Objectives: Unpaid or informal caregivers play a
key role in supporting persons experiencing cog-
nitive decline; presently, literature on the burden of
informal caregiving is limited.This study aims to ex-
amine emotional, physical and financial burden in
informal caregivers of persons with dementia.
Methods: Participants are recruited as they ac-
company a patient for which they are the primary
caregiver to a visit with a cognitive neurologist at
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.A convenience
sample of 100-150 participants is currently being
sought.Participants complete a questionnaire cap-
turing demographics, the Zarit Burden Interview,
and the Sunnybrook Costing Tool (SBT), designed
to assess financial toxicity.In the absence of an
appropriate tool to assess the financial burden of
caregivers supporting persons with dementia, the
Comprehensive Scale for Financial Toxicity from
the FACIT Measurement System was modified to
address issues in this population in a manner that
is relevant.The patient’s performance on the Mi-
ni-Mental State Exam (MMSE) was also recorded.
Upon completion of recruitment, descriptive statis-
tics will be applied to the data.
Results: At the time of writing 29 participants had
been recruited to the study, over 60% of which are
spouses of the patients and are female.A prelimi-
nary assessment of the score on the Zarit Burden
Interview and the patient’s MMSE score reveals a
low level of burden in patients with greater cognition,
as is expected.
Conclusion: Upon completion, this study aims to
shed light on the burden of informal caregivers, and
to better inform policies developed to support them.
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
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Burden AM 4
Busse J 43, 45
Cadarette SM 4, 34
Campbell KL 21
Carcone S 36
Carleton B 8
Carney G 1, 12
Cesta A 10, 11, 29
Chambers J 38
Chan A 37
Chan B 30
Cheung MC 19
Clark R 9
Colgan S 27
Couban R 43, 45
Cowan RP 21
Craven C 30
Curtis JR 8
Dabbous F 21
Daeninck P 42
Dao S 7
Dempster W 38
Denburg AE 19
Dolovich L 37
Donnan J 33
Dormuth CR 1, 12
Dragomir A 6, 25, 36
Earle CC 18
Ellis KB 19
Evans WK 3, 15
Falls C 20
Fairbairn M 23
Feeny D 31
Feld J 8
Filion KB 17
Finelli A 6
Fischer A 41
Author Index #
Abrahamowicz M 8
Abuzour A 37
Ackroyd T 24
Adachi JD 9, 34
Alkabbani W 42
Alessi-Severini S 5, 28, 42
Alyward B 22
Amine Amiche M 34
Aprikian A 25, 36
Assasi N 19
Ashe MC 9
Athanasiadis G 4
Auger C 16
Avramioti D 24
Azoulay L 17
Bailey H 23
Baker AR 47
Ball G
35
Ban JK 4
Basappa N 6
Bassett K 1
Bassler KA 33
Bayley A 20
Bernatsky S 8
Bick R 14
Bini C 26
Black SE 47
Bolton JM 5
Bombardier C 10,11, 29
Bouganim N 17
Bremner K 36
Bronskill SE 40
Brown MC 20
Buchman S 18
Bugden S 42
Bui V 37
AUTHOR INDEX
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
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Gamble JM 33
Gradin S 18
Gatley JM 40
Giangregorio LM 9
Gibbs JC 9
Giuliani M 20
Goldstein D 20
Goodman SG 27
Goeree R 27
Gomes T 16, 34
Gran-Ruaz S 22
Greaves S 16
Grima D 2
Grubert N 22
Gruneir A 40
Guertin JR 31
Gupta M 41
Guyatt G 43, 45
Hancock-Howard R 24
Hansen A 6, 20
Hassan S 9
Hayes KN 4
Haynes AE 19
Hepworth E 10, 29
Heng D 6
Herrmann, N 40
Hojjati M 26, 44
Hong NJL 18
Hope A 20
Hueniken K 20
Hughes A 22
Hume M 27
Humphries B 31
Hurry M 2, 3, 15
Hu J 25
Jang R 20
Janzen D 5
Johnston K 33
Kapoor A 6
Kawahara SH 21
Kendler D 9
Khaira M 37
Khosa G 28
Khosrow-Khavar F 17
Klein M 8
Kollmannsberger C 6
Krahn M 36
Kuo I 5, 28
Kurteva S 39
Lam B 47
Lancaster K 37
Lanius RA 45
Larche MG 10
Lau A 29
Lee TC 39
Lees M 44
Leon C 42
Leong C 5
Levesque LE 34
Li X 11
Lipton RB 21
Liu N 18
Lok A 37
Machado MA 8
MacKinnon M 18
Mani A 22
Mancini J 41
Marcellusi A 26
Marra CA 33
Marrie RA 42
Mathers A 37
Martins D 16
McCabe RE 45
McCarthy LM 40
McKinnon MC 45
Mennini F 26
Mirshams M 20
Mirza R 10, 30
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
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Mitsakakis N 36
Mittmann N 9, 18, 47
Moldaver D 2
Moltzan CJ 19
Morrow RL 1, 12
Moura CS 8
Movahedi M 10, 11, 29
Muhimpundu CV 7
Myers S 28
Nablsi E 36
Nadeem K 16
Najafzadeh M 33
Nazha S 6
Ng R 32
Nguyen H 33
Nguyen TTY 7
Oh P 27
O’Quinn S 22
O’Reilly D 35
Pandey AS 41
Papaioannou A 9
Pavlovic JM 21
Pericleous L 27, 41
Pisterzi LF 47
Pope J 29
Pouliot F 6
Primiani J 36
Pulicharam R 21
Rahimi M 20
Rampakakis E
29
Rawson NSB 46
Reed ML 21
Rehman Y 43, 45
Rendon RA 6
Richardson JD 45
Rochon PA 40
Rogoza RM 23, 27
Rosella LC 32
Ryan W 36
Sabarre KA 19
Sampalis J3 29
Sati S 18
Savage RD 40
Seung SJ 3, 9, 15, 18
Selby R 44
Shakeri A 34
Shepherd J 23
Sidelnikov E 41
Silberstein SD 21
Singh S 16
Siu L 20
So AI 6
Soulieres D 6
Spreafico A 20
Stall N 40
Suissa S 17
Sutradhar R 32
Swab M 33
Syed I 24
Tadrous M 16
Tai M-H 23
Tamblyn R 39
Tanguay S 6
Tarride JE 31
Templeton JA 9
Thabane L 9, 37
Tims K 22
Tran D 2
Tran F 48
Trudeau M 19
Vaillancourt Z 36
Vernia M 26
Visentin JD 40
Viswanathan HN 21
Waldron J 20
Walton R 3, 15
Wang J 20
Wark JD 9
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
©2018 CAPT.
e62
Weir DL 39
Winthrop K 8
Wodchis W 30, 32
Wong-Rieger D 13
Wood LA 6
Wright F 18
Wright JM 1
Xu W 20
Yanev I 36
Yu JS 21
Zhang Y 20
ABSTRACTS CAPT / ACTP ANNUAL MEETING 2018
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol Vol 25(2):e33-e62; October 26, 2018.
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©2018 CAPT.