Department of Diagnostic and Experimental Medicine, Section of General Pathology, University of Ferrara.
Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2000 Jul;9(4):319-26. doi: 10.1002/1099-1557(200007/08)9:4<319::AID-PDS505>3.0.CO;2-6.
Purpose-To provide information on the actual use of medicines in a general population sample.Methods-Information was collected in a general population sample of North Italy (1946 subjects; 938 males, 1008 females) by an interviewer-administered questionnaire.Results-Of the subjects 25.9% took habitually at least one medicine, whereas 11.1% used medicaments only occasionally. The use of medicines was significantly higher in females than in males (p < 0.001), but only in 15-44-year-old females, because of the use of oral contraceptives. The use of medicines increased with ageing (OR=1.80, p < 0.001). The highest use of habitual medicaments was found in subjects of 55+ years of both sexes. In both sexes, the medicines classified in the cardiovascular therapeutic group were the most frequently used. The use of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular medicines was significantly higher in males than in females (p < 0.001). In males, the use of habitual medicines was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in current smokers and ex-smokers than in never smokers. Only 23% of allergic subjects used antiallergic medicines, and only 35% of subjects with respiratory symptoms/diseases used medicines classified into the bronchopulmonary therapeutic group. The percentage of subjects who reported cardiovascular symptoms/diseases and used medicines classified in the cardiovascular therapeutic group was greater (62%).Conclusions-We stress the importance of data collection in general population samples by questionnaires to investigate the actual use of medicines. This may give a more accurate estimate of medicine use than is possible from pharmacy sales or hospital records. Copyright (c) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
目的-提供关于普通人群样本中实际用药情况的信息。
方法-通过问卷调查收集了意大利北部普通人群样本中的信息（1946 名受试者；938 名男性，1008 名女性）。
结果-在受试者中，有 25.9%习惯性地服用至少一种药物，而 11.1%仅偶尔使用药物。女性用药率明显高于男性（p<0.001），但仅在 15-44 岁的女性中，因为她们使用了口服避孕药。用药率随年龄增长而增加（OR=1.80，p<0.001）。习惯性用药率最高的是 55 岁以上的男女受试者。在两性中，心血管治疗组的药物是最常用的。胃肠道和心血管药物在男性中的使用明显高于女性（p<0.001）。在男性中，习惯性用药在当前吸烟者和戒烟者中明显高于从不吸烟者（p<0.001）。只有 23%的过敏受试者使用抗过敏药物，只有 35%有呼吸道症状/疾病的受试者使用支气管肺部治疗组的药物。报告心血管症状/疾病并使用心血管治疗组药物的受试者比例更高（62%）。
结论-我们强调通过问卷调查收集普通人群样本中实际用药情况数据的重要性。这可能比从药房销售或医院记录中获得的用药情况更准确。版权所有（c）2000 年 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
