Metge C, Black C, Peterson S, Kozyrskyj A L
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Med Care. 1999 Jun;37(6 Suppl):JS42-59. doi: 10.1097/00005650-199906001-00008.
In this study, population-based analysis is used to study the extent to which characteristics such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, and region of residence are associated with different patterns of pharmaceutical use. It also includes an examination of whether pharmaceutical use is responsive to differential health needs across the population.
Indicators of access, intensity of use, and total expenditures are used to describe Manitobans' use of pharmaceutical agents, consistent with the POPULIS framework.
Several rate-based measures have been developed for this purpose: the number of residents who are pharmaceutical users; the number of prescriptions dispensed; the number of different drugs dispensed; the total number of defined daily doses (DDDs) dispensed; and expenditures for pharmaceuticals. The DDD measurement provides a cumulative assessment of total drug use (i.e., across multiple drug categories) and is a useful indicator of a population's total drug exposure.
Patterns of use of pharmaceuticals follow patterns similar to those patterns in earlier POPULIS studies on health care access, intensity, and expenditures. In areas where health is generally poorer, a greater number of prescriptions are dispensed. The highest use of pharmaceuticals also was found in the lower-income quintiles and among those at greatest socioeconomic risk, traditionally those with the poorest health status.
This kind of population-based pharmaceutical information can help monitor the effectiveness of policy initiatives, as well as serve to better manage pharmaceutical use within the health care system.
在本研究中，基于人群的分析用于研究年龄、性别、社会经济地位和居住地区等特征与不同药物使用模式的关联程度。该研究还包括考察药物使用是否能响应人群中不同的健康需求。
使用可及性、使用强度和总支出指标来描述马尼托巴省居民的药物使用情况，这与POPULIS框架一致。
为此开发了几种基于比率的测量方法：药物使用者居民数量；配药处方数量；不同药物配药数量；配药限定日剂量（DDD）总数；以及药品支出。DDD测量提供了对总药物使用的累积评估（即跨多个药物类别），是人群总药物暴露的有用指标。
药物使用模式与早期POPULIS关于医疗保健可及性、强度和支出的研究模式相似。在健康状况普遍较差的地区，配药处方数量更多。在低收入五分位数人群以及社会经济风险最高的人群（传统上是健康状况最差的人群）中，药物使用量也最高。
这种基于人群的药物信息有助于监测政策举措的有效性，并有助于在医疗保健系统内更好地管理药物使用。
