Prescribing patterns for topical retinoids: Analyses of 15 years of data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prescribing patterns of topical retinoids in the United States. METHODS: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was employed. Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (1990-2004) were used. The impact of patient diagnosis of acne and other covariates on the probability of getting a retinoid prescription was examined using weighted multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: Among the national cohort of patients aged 10 years and older (number of patient visits = 11.7 billion), 41.5 million patients received a topical retinoid prescription. In the retinoid cohort, more than 70% of patients had a diagnosis for acne vulgaris. Diagnosis of acne vulgaris was the strongest predictor of getting a retinoid prescription after controlling for other covariates (OR: 43.39; 95% CI: 32.44, 58.02). CONCLUSIONS: Requiring prior authorization for topical retinoids for all age groups seems unwarranted and may not be cost-beneficial for the managed care organizations based on these and previous findings.