Trends in thyroid hormone prescribing and consumption in the UK
Open accessAbstract
Background: Thyroid hormone replacement is one of the most commonly prescribed and cost effective treatments for a chronic disease. There have been recent changes in community prescribing policies in many areas of the UK that have changed patient access to necessary medications. This study aimed to provide a picture of thyroid hormone usage in the UK and to survey patient opinion about current community prescribing policies for levothyroxine. Methods: Data on community prescriptions for thyroid hormones in England between 1998 and 2007, provided by the Department of Health, were collated and analysed. A survey of UK members of a patient support organisation (the British Thyroid Foundation) who were taking levothyroxine was carried out. Results: The amount of prescribed thyroid hormones used in England has more than doubled, from 7 to almost 19 million prescriptions, over the last 10 years. The duration of prescriptions has reduced from 60 to 45 days, on average over the same time. Two thousand five hundred and fifty one responses to the patient survey were received. Thirty eight percent of levothyroxine users reported receiving prescriptions of 28 days' duration. 59% of respondents reported being dissatisfied with 28-day prescribing. Conclusion: Amongst users of levothyroxine, there is widespread patient dissatisfaction with 28-day prescription duration. Analysis of the full costs of 28-day dispensing balanced against the potential savings of reduced wastage of thyroid medications, suggests that this is unlikely to be an economically effective public health policy.
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NDT preparations contain a mixture of levothyroxine and liothyronine in a fixed ratio, although this ratio varies slightly between batches.
“They contain a mixture of levothyroxine and liothyronine in a fixed ratio (although this ratio does vary slightly between batches).”
From Natural desiccated thyroid for the treatment of hypothyroidism? (2024) · cites this paper as [10]
The Background (page unavailable) identifies desiccated porcine thyroid as a preparation and discusses its T3 content relative to human thyroid, alongside T3/T4 replacement. It does not state that NDT has a fixed levothyroxine-to-liothyronine ratio or that the ratio varies between batches. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Mitchell, A. L., Hickey, B., Hickey, J. L., & Pearce, S. H.
- Affiliations
- Royal Victoria Infirmary (GB)
- British Thyroid Foundation (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Pearce, Simon HS
- Venue
- BMC Public Health
- Published
- 2009-05-11
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 132-132
- ISSN
- 1471-2458 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2683823
- OpenAlex
- W1985394311
- Cited by
- 73
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 1.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMC Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (ACF-2007-01-004)
- University of Leeds
- British Thyroid Foundation
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Disorders and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare cost, quality, practices
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmacy and Medical Practices
- Keywords
- thyroid hormone replacement, levothyroxine, prescribing trends, prescription duration, patient satisfaction, pharmaceutical waste, drug costs, hypothyroidism
- MeSH terms
- Costs and Cost Analysis, Drug Utilization, United Kingdom, Humans, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Thyroid Hormones, Thyroxine, Drug Costs, Health Care Surveys, Prescription Drugs
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