Factors associated with topical retinoid prescriptions for acne

BACKGROUND: Topical retinoids are recommended as the main therapy for most acne patients. OBJECTIVE: To examine the factors associated with topical retinoid prescriptions for acne. METHODS: Retrospective analyses used data from the 2005-2010 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and the 2004-2007 Marketscan Medicaid Database. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the impact of patient and physician factors on the probability of getting a topical retinoid prescription. RESULTS: Results from analyzing the NAMCS data showed that topical retinoids were prescribed in 40.9% of acne-related physician visits. Older age, male gender, and having Medicaid insurance were associated with a lower likelihood of getting a topical retinoid prescription. Moreover, we found in the Medicaid dataset that seeing a pediatrician or family doctor was associated with lower odds of getting a topical retinoid prescription than seeing a dermatologist (OR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.25). LIMITATIONS: The available databases do not provide an assessment of the severity of the lesions either at baseline or over time. CONCLUSION: The frequency of receiving a topical retinoid prescription among acne patients was low and it was associated with age, gender, insurance type and physician specialty.