Females with acne stay on spironolactone longer than antibiotics in real-world usage study

Female patients with acne may benefit from continuing treatment with spironolactone longer than with oral antibiotics, according to a retrospective study of women with acne published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

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Among those treated for at least a year, patients continued spironolactone for about 90 days longer on average, than those on antibiotic therapy, reported John S. Barbieri, MD, of the department of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and associates. “The extended drug usage survival of spironolactone suggests that, in routine clinical practice, spironolactone may have good long-term effectiveness and tolerability,” they wrote. “Since female patients often have persistent acne into adulthood and given concerns regarding antibiotic overuse among acne patients, it is possible that using spironolactone as a first-line agent before oral antibiotics could improve outcomes for female patients with acne,” they added.

In the study, they pointed out that spironolactone is emerging as a possible alternative to oral antibiotic therapy, but “little is known about long-term outcomes with spironolactone for those who have an initial positive response and how it compares to other alternatives.”

To examine the duration of acne treatment with spironolactone versus oral antibiotics, the researchers analyzed data during 2010-2016 in the Optum Clinformatics Data Mart. They included data on female patients aged 12-40 years, with at least two diagnosis codes for acne, who received spironolactone or oral antibiotics for at least 12 months. They used multivariate Cox proportional hazard models to assess differences in duration of therapy for spironolactone, compared with oral antibiotics.

The mean duration of a treatment course was significantly longer among the 4,321 patients treated with spironolactone than among the 7,517 patients treated with oral tetracycline-class antibiotics (697.8 days vs. 604.4 days; P less than .001). Compared with treatment with oral tetracyclines, the hazard ratio for discontinuing spironolactone treatment was 0.74, after researchers controlled for the age at diagnosis and treatment, history of polycystic ovarian syndrome, and history of combined oral contraceptive or topical retinoid treatment.

Patients who receive spironolactone and patients who receive oral antibiotics may represent different populations, the authors noted. In addition, guidelines advise limiting antibiotic treatment to 3-6 months, and antibiotic discontinuations may have been related to these recommendations. “It is not possible to determine whether medication discontinuation occurred due to lack of efficacy, cost, side effects, resolution of acne, or other factors,” they said, adding that prospective studies are needed “to identify the optimal treatment approaches for female patients with moderate to severe acne.”

The study was funded in part by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Dr. Barbieri is supported by NIAMS and receives partial salary support through a Pfizer Fellowship in Dermatology Patient Oriented Research grant to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.

jremaly@mdedge.com

SOURCE: Barbieri JS et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2019 Mar 21. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2019.03.036.