The number and outcome of articles on clinical studies change over time, and reflect the outcome of the studies as shown by meta-analyses. Thus, meta-analyses should be precisely timed. We fragmentally and cross-sectionally assessed articles describing the antihypertensive effects of incretin-related drugs to determine the optimal timing and feasibility of meta-analyses. We searched PubMed and ICHUSHI Web databases for clinical articles describing the effects of incretin-related drugs on blood pressure, and longitudinally evaluated the number and quality of the articles. We analyzed 54 English articles published between 2000 and 2015: 79.6% studies were randomized, 42.6% were analyzed in a double-blind comparative manner, and 83.3% described cancelled and dropout cases. The mean Jadad score was 2.7 ± 1.7 (Mean ± SD). The correlation coefficient of the quality and sample size was-0.916. Our meta-analysis revealed that compared to placebo, liraglutide 1.2 mg, exenatide 5 μg, and liraglutide 1.8 mg reduced systolic blood pressure by-5.38 mmHg, and-5.27 mmHg, and-3.89 mmHg, respectively [95% confidence intervals:-7.91 to-2.84,-9.18 to-1.36, and-6.41 to-1.37 respectively]. The quality level was retained in studies published between 2000 and 2011. Therefore, the quality and quantity may be balanced at the time of the meta-analysis of the first published article. A similar approach may determine the optimal timing of meta-analyses in other fields.
Pharmacists active in health care venues need to be able to evaluate generic drugs in terms of eŠectiveness, safety, and economy to ensure that they are used appropriately. As part of the ongoing study of these factors, we carried out an objective evaluation of information provided for generics. A minimum of 20 commercially available products was considered for each pharmaceutical ingredient. The information subjected to evaluation consisted of the text of drug package inserts and information noted on interview forms. Using our own criteria for evaluating drug information, we attempted to quantify the amounts of information provided. Then, based on the numerical values obtained, we calculated information quantities with reference to drug prices to study the relationship between prices and available information for original drugs and their later-developed, generic equivalents. A total of 14 diŠerent pharmaceutical ingredients (327 product items) were considered, with the information quantity for generics amounting to 27.9±17.8-46.3±21.4% (Mean± S.D.) that for the original drugs. Examined on the basis of individual pharmaceutical companies, the corresponding ratio came to . For generics, the relationship between drug price (expressed against a value of 1.0 for original drugs) and information quantity (Qua i ) came to 0.79±0.46-1.90±0.79% (Mean±S.D.). These results clearly point to the importance of evaluating information quantity for generic drugs on a maker-by-maker basis.
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