Medication-related costs of rhinitis in Australia: a NostraData cross-sectional study of pharmacy purchases

Figures & data

Table 1 Sample characteristics of pharmacy transactions in different geographic regions of Australia over 24 months

State/Territory	Pharmacies, n	All transactions, na	All transactions including rhinitis therapy, na
ACT	30	379,839	215,527
NSW	235	2,405,577	1,243,143
NT	3	43,472	21,328
QLD	210	1,738,886	870,898
SA	40	382,983	184,013
TAS	25	168,083	74,339
VIC	203	1,895,063	907,978
WA	119	1,320,569	729,967
Total	909	8,334,472	4,247,193

Notes:

a Individual patients cannot be tracked in this dataset. The data shown are the number of pharmacy transactions.

Abbreviations: ACT, Australian Capital Territory; NSW, New South Wales; NT, Northern Territory; QLD, Queensland; SA, South Australia; TAS, Tasmania; VIC, Victoria; WA, Western Australia.

Table 2 List of drugs included in each therapeutic class

Oral antihistamine (OAH)	Intranasal corticosteroid (INCS)	Nonsteroidal nasal spray (NSNS)	Eye drop (ED) for allergic conjunctivitis	Leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA)	Intranasal combination antihistamine/corticosteroid
Acrivastine	Beclomethasone dipropionate	Azelastine hydrochloride	Nedocromil	Montelukast	Azelestine/fluticasone propionate
Alimemazine tartrate	Betamethasone sodium phosphate	Ipratropium bromide	Lodoximide	Zafirlukast
Cetirizine	Budesonide	Oxymetazoline hydrochloride	Olopatadine
Chlorphenamine	Flunisolide	Chromolyn	Sodium Cromoglycate
Cyproheptadine hydrochloride	Flucticasone propionate	Antimuscarinic
Desloratadine	Fluticasone furoate	Ephedrine hydrochloride
Diphenhydramine	Mometasone furoate	Xylometazoline hydrochloride
Doxylaminea	Triamcinolone acetonide	Sodium Cromoglycate
Fexofenadine		Oxymetazoline hydrochloride
Hydroxyzine hydrochloride		Levocabastinea
Ketotifen		Tramazolinea
Levocetrizine
Loratadine
Mizolastine
Pheniraminea
Promethazine hydrochloride

Notes:

a Over-the-counter only.

Abbreviations: ED, eye drop; INCS, intranasal corticosteroid; LTRA, leukotriene receptor antagonist; NSNS, nonsteroidal nasal spray; OAH, oral antihistamine.

Table 3 Count of rhinitis therapy drug classes in the same transaction from pharmacies across all geographic regions of Australia (N=4,247,193)

Number of drug classes in the same transaction	Pharmacy transactions na (%)
1	4,074,987 (96)
2	167,993 (3.9)
3	4,150 (0.1)
≥4	63 (<0.001)

Notes:

a Individual patients cannot be tracked in this dataset. The data shown are the number of pharmacy transactions.

Table 4 Classes of rhinitis therapy as single therapy in the transaction from pharmacies across all geographic regions of Australia (N=4,074,987)

Class of rhinitis therapy purchaseda as single therapy	Pharmacy transactions n (%)
Oral antihistamine (OAH)	2,955,369 (73)
Intranasal corticosteroid (INCS)	600,173 (15)
Nonsteroidal nasal spray (NSNS)	428,583 (10)
Leukotriene receptor antagonist	60,312 (1)
Eye drop (ED) for allergic conjunctivitis	29,054 (0.7)
Intranasal combination therapy of antihistamine and corticosteroid	1,496 (0.03)

Notes:

a Over-the-counter and prescription.

Table 5 Classes of rhinitis therapy frequently purchased with intranasal corticosteroid in transactions that included multiple drug classes in the same transaction from pharmacies across all geographic regions of Australia (N=172,206)

Class of rhinitis therapy purchaseda with INCS	Pharmacy transactions n (%)
Oral antihistamine	68,840 (40)
Nonsteroidal nasal spray	9,731 (6)
Eye drop for allergic conjunctivitis	3,872 (2)

Notes:

a Over-the-counter and prescription.

Abbreviation: INCS, intranasal corticosteroid.

Figure 1 Proportion of OTC oral antihistamine (N=72,952), nonsteroidal nasal spray (N=9,769), and eye drop (N=3,673) frequently purchased with intranasal corticosteroid in the same transaction from pharmacies across all geographic regions of Australia.

Abbreviations: OTC, over-the-counter; INCS, intranasal corticosteroid; OAH, oral antihistamine; NSNS, nonsteroidal nasal spray; ED, eye drop.

Figure 2 Average cost (AUD) of single versus multiple rhinitis therapies.

Abbreviation: AUD, Australian dollars.

Figure 3 Average cost (AUD) of intranasal corticosteroid purchases with OTC: oral antihistamine (N=68,840); nonsteroidal nasal spray (N=9,731); eye drop for allergic conjunctivitis (N=3,872) versus intranasal corticosteroid monotherapy (N=600,173).

Abbreviations: AUD, Australian dollars; OTC, over-the-counter; INCS, intranasal corticosteroid; OAH, oral antihistamine; NSNS, nonsteroidal nasal spray; ED, eye drop.