Changes of the Types and Daily Costs of Topical Antiglaucoma Medications from 2006 to 2021 in China

Abstract

Purpose. To investigate the changes of the types and daily costs of topical antiglaucoma medications from 2006 to 2021 in China, providing evidence for optimizing treatment regimen and medical insurance policy. Methods. The types of topical antiglaucoma drugs except complementary and traditional medicines and associated price information were collected from the largest pharmaceutical database in China (YAOZH database). The daily costs of each drug, the average income level, and the daily cost of topical antiglaucoma medications relative with daily disposable income were calculated and compared between 2006 and 2021. Results. The options of topical antiglaucoma drugs increased remarkably to 32 types in 2021, of which prostaglandin analogs comprised the largest proportion (31.25%). There were 10 types of the same brand drugs available in 2006 and 2021, the mean daily cost of which decreased from $0.39 ± 0.30 to $0.28 ± 0.23 ( $p<0.001$ ). As the average daily disposable income of Chinese residents grew greatly, the proportion of the daily cost of topical antiglaucoma medications in daily disposable income in 2021 declined significantly from 32.52% to 5.78% (all the drugs, $p<0.001$ ) and 3.94% (without unit dose package, $p<0.001$ ) in rural areas and from 9.95% to 2.31% (all the drugs, $p<0.001$ ) and 1.57% (without unit dose package, $p<0.001$ ) in urban areas. Conclusions. Topical antiglaucoma medications available become much more abundant in China. With the increase of residents’ disposable income and reduction of daily costs of topical antiglaucoma medications, the drug treatment for glaucoma becomes more affordable both in rural and urban areas.