Examining Fluoroquinolone Claims Among Gonorrhea-Associated Prescription Drug Claims, 2000–2010

Introduction After the release of CDC’s revised gonorrhea treatment guidelines in April 2007, a study reported the declining use of fluoroquinolones to treat gonorrhea among health departments participating in the Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Network. In this study, we examine the proportion of fluoroquinolone claims among gonorrhea-associated prescription drug claims from a large insurance database from 2000 through 2010. Methods We extracted drug claims associated with gonorrhea diagnosis claims from the MarketScan database for 2000–2010 and calculated the proportion of the drug claims for fluoroquinolones on a monthly basis. We then used an interrupted time series analysis to investigate trend characteristics of fluoroquinolone claims before and after the gonorrhea treatment guidelines were revised in April 2007. Results Although there was a monthly decline in the proportion of fluoroquinolone claims before April 2007 (–0.11 percentage points, p