Original Article
Worldwide epidemiology and trends of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor inhibitors usage
Abstract
Background: The use of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor inhibitors (known also as P2Y12 inhibitors) is now widely advocated in combination with aspirin for immediate therapeutic management of patients with arterial thrombotic diseases. This study was hence planned to collect information about Google search volumes for P2Y12 inhibitors as a first order approximation of their worldwide usage.
Methods: Google Trends was searched using with the keywords “Clopidogrel” AND “Ticagrelor” AND “Ticlopidine” AND “Prasugrel” with the option “prescription drug”. No language limit was applied and the searches were performed between January 2004 and June 2017.
Results: The median monthly Google Trends score of clopidogrel was the highest among the four drugs, nearly 8-fold higher than that of prasugrel and nearly 20-fold higher than those of ticlopidine and ticagrelor. Between January 2004 and May 2012, the highest volume of monthly Google searches could be recorded for clopidogrel, whereas the median score of the other three drugs was still more than 18-fold lower. The cumulative volume of monthly Google searches for clopidogrel further increased by approximately 4% during the past five years, that of ticagrelor and prasugrel increased by nearly 17- and 2.5-fold, whereas that of Ticlopidine decreased by approximately 25% compared to the previous period. The analysis of Google search volumes limited to the past 5 years shows a significant increase for both clopidogrel (r=0.68) and ticagrelor (r=0.99), and a considerable decreased for ticlopidine (r=−0.61) and prasugrel (r=−0.75).
Conclusions: According to our analysis of Google Trends scores, the popularity of ticlopidine and prasugrel has considerably declined in recent times, that of clopidogrel has remained quite constant over more than a decade, whereas that of ticagrelor seems constantly increasing.
Methods: Google Trends was searched using with the keywords “Clopidogrel” AND “Ticagrelor” AND “Ticlopidine” AND “Prasugrel” with the option “prescription drug”. No language limit was applied and the searches were performed between January 2004 and June 2017.
Results: The median monthly Google Trends score of clopidogrel was the highest among the four drugs, nearly 8-fold higher than that of prasugrel and nearly 20-fold higher than those of ticlopidine and ticagrelor. Between January 2004 and May 2012, the highest volume of monthly Google searches could be recorded for clopidogrel, whereas the median score of the other three drugs was still more than 18-fold lower. The cumulative volume of monthly Google searches for clopidogrel further increased by approximately 4% during the past five years, that of ticagrelor and prasugrel increased by nearly 17- and 2.5-fold, whereas that of Ticlopidine decreased by approximately 25% compared to the previous period. The analysis of Google search volumes limited to the past 5 years shows a significant increase for both clopidogrel (r=0.68) and ticagrelor (r=0.99), and a considerable decreased for ticlopidine (r=−0.61) and prasugrel (r=−0.75).
Conclusions: According to our analysis of Google Trends scores, the popularity of ticlopidine and prasugrel has considerably declined in recent times, that of clopidogrel has remained quite constant over more than a decade, whereas that of ticagrelor seems constantly increasing.
