Total drug treatment and comorbidity in myasthenia gravis: a population-based cohort study

Abstract

Background and purpose: Comorbidity in myasthenia gravis (MG) is important for diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Disease complexity was assessed by examining total drug treatment, immune therapy and comorbidity in a complete national MG cohort. Methods: All recipients of the MG-specific drug pyridostigmine 2004–2010 registered in the compulsory Norwegian Prescription Database who met the inclusion criteria were included. The pyridostigmine group was compared with the general Norwegian population. Results: Myasthenia gravis patients received co-medication more often than the controls for nearly all groups of medication, including insulins (95% confidence interval 2.0–3.7), thyroid therapy (1.7–2.5), antidepressants (1.3–1.7), anti-infectives (1.2–1.4), lipid-modifying agents (1.1–1.4) and immunomodulating agents (6.8–8.8). Conclusions: Myasthenia gravis patients are more often treated with non-MG prescription drugs than controls, reflecting frequent co-medication and comorbidity.