A prospective follow-up study of 5669 users of lansoprazole in daily practice

Background: Immediately after the introduction of the proton pump inhibitor lansoprazole, a 2-year follow-up study was started to evaluate patterns of use, safety and effectiveness of this drug in naturally occurring groups of patients in the Netherlands, Medical data were recorded by participating physicians while medication listings were provided by pharmacists. Methods: The study was designed according to the Safety Assessment of Marketed Medicines guidelines, The only inclusion criterion was the use of lansoprazole prior to entry into the study. Results: A total of 5669 lansoprazole users was included by 374 general practitioners and 117 specialists, Lansoprazole was mostly prescribed in patients with reflux oesophagitis (55.1%), 'gastritis' (26.8%) and duodenal ulcers (11.4%), sometimes as part of a Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy (8.5%). For their complaints most patients (91.1%) had previously used acid-related drugs, Improvement or disappearance of complaints was achieved in 88.9% and 90.5% of patients after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment, respectively. Diarrhoea (4.1%), headache (2.9%) and nausea (2.6%) were the most frequently reported adverse events, Conclusion: The patterns of use of lansoprazole in daily practice deviated from the recommendations in the information leaflet. Nevertheless, lansoprazole was found to be safe in this naturally occurring group of users. Effectiveness appeared to be comparable to results found in clinical trials of the registered indications for lansoprazole.