Economic Impact of Guidelines for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2004-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
This is a series of two prospective studies based on the Department of Veterans Affairs drug
treatment guideline for the pharmacologic management of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Our
hypothesis is that novel strategies for medical management of gastroesophageal reflux disease
(GERD) can decrease resource utilization without adversely affecting patient quality of life.
The strategies tested in this project included 1) step-down management, whereby patients
rendered asymptomatic on proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are treated with less expensive
medication, and 2) intermittent therapy, defined as administration of medication only for
recurrence of GERD symptoms. We chose to examine an intermittent strategy of PPI
administration since in addition to the VA guideline requiring step-down therapy,
over-the-counter PPIs administered by intermittent therapy became available for use by
patients during the study period.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
US Department of Veterans Affairs VA Office of Research and Development