Translation of research into clinical practice: a case study of calcium supplement prescribing in New Zealand.

Aims: Researchers are commonly requested to describe potential benefits of their research for New Zealand in funding applications, but such benefits can be difficult to precisely determine. Recently, we reported that calcium supplements increase cardiovascular risk. We investigated the impact of this research on prescriptions of calcium supplements in New Zealand.
Methods: Data on the number of calcium supplement prescriptions in New Zealand from 2000-2012 were obtained from the Ministry of Health and the total costs of calcium carbonate from PHARMAC.
Results: Calcium prescriptions increased rapidly between 2000 and 2007, plateaued after the publication of a randomised controlled trial in 2008, and then rapidly declined after publication of a meta-analysis in 2010. Since 2007, monthly prescriptions have decreased by 66%. From 2000 to 2006, the annual cost of calcium carbonate increased from $1.2 to $2.4 million, but from 2007 to 2012, the annual cost decreased by $1.5 million, with a cumulative reduction in cost of $3.9 million. There were substantial regional variations in declines in prescription numbers, and in 2012 prescribing rates.
Conclusion: Public-good funding of independent researchers to conduct randomised clinical trials with meaningful clinical outcomes and meta-analyses of such trials can translate into substantial benefits through cost savings.