Klin Farmakol Farm. 2023;37(2):52-58 | DOI: 10.36290/far.2023.009

Analysis of Crohn´s disease pharmacotherapy in the child and adult population

Mária Kolesárová¹, Anita Vassová¹, Dana Marcinčáková¹, Ján Kyselovič^{1, 2}, Andrea Gažová³

¹ Katedra farmakológie a toxikológie, Univerzita veterinárskeho lekárstva a farmácie, Košice, Slovenská republika

² V. interná klinika, Lekárska fakulta Univerzity Komenského a Univerzitná nemocnica Bratislava, Nemocnica Ružinov, Bratislava, Slovenská republika

³ Ústav farmakológie a klinickej farmakológie, Lekárska fakulta Univerzity Komenského, Bratislava, Slovenská republika

Crohn's disease (MC - morbus Crohn) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract of unknown origin characterized by periods of relapse and remission. The aim of the study was the analysis of pharmacological therapy of MC in adults and pediatric patients through prescription in Slovakia for the year 2021. The data were obtained from the National Center for Health Information of the Slovak Republic. The number of prescriptions represented 21 834 prescription records (PZ), of which 988 (4.53 %) were PZ for pediatric patients (up to 18 years) and 20 846 (95.47%) for adult patients. Information such as the age and gender of the patients, the drugs prescribed for the treatment of MC in adults and pediatric patients, including biological drugs in the therapy of MC, were evaluated from the obtained PZ. The evaluated prescription results show that MC in Slovakia most often affects the male population. The most frequent occurrence of MC was recorded in the pediatric population from 11 to 17 years old and in young adults up to 45 years old. Pharmacological analysis showed that the conventional therapeutic approach in the form of aminosalicylates, immunosuppressants and corticosteroids was preferred in the therapy of MC in both pediatric and adult patient populations. Biological treatment was prescribed in the pediatric population at the level of 10.83 % and in adult patients at the level of 14.91 %. Of the biological drugs, drugs such as adalimumab and infliximab were most often used in both children and adult patients. The prescription of drugs could be influenced by several factors, among which are the activities and extent of diseases, the availability of drugs and its method of administration or patient preferences and compliance, or the financial year of treatment.

Keywords: Crohn´s disease, therapy, pediatric population, adult population.

Accepted: July 10, 2023; Published: July 10, 2023  Show citation