Lu Christine Y
Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre, Sansom Institute, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
Clin Rheumatol. 2009 Apr;28(4):371-7. doi: 10.1007/s10067-009-1102-6. Epub 2009 Feb 4.
The topic of drug safety has received great attention in recent years. Pharmacoepidemiology is the study of the use and effects of medicines in large populations using epidemiological methods. Pharmacoepidemiologic research can fill the knowledge gaps due to the limitations of existing pharmacovigilance systems that rely on randomised controlled trials and voluntary reporting. This review discusses the present state of pharmacoepidemiologic research in Australia. In Australia, linking administrative data on use of medications and medical services is possible to a certain extent. Data from patient registries with respect to rheumatology are also available. These data are valuable for better understanding of the beneficial and adverse effects of medicines. Opportunities and challenges of using these data sources to address issues from clinical pharmacology are also highlighted. Australia is well-placed internationally to make major contributions to the knowledge base of outcomes of medicines in the real-world setting. Developments in pharmacoepidemiology are critical to clinicians treating patients with rheumatic and other conditions.
药物安全这一话题近年来受到了极大关注。药物流行病学是运用流行病学方法对大量人群中药物的使用及其效果进行的研究。由于现有药物警戒系统依赖随机对照试验和自愿报告存在局限性，药物流行病学研究能够填补知识空白。本综述探讨了澳大利亚药物流行病学研究的现状。在澳大利亚，在一定程度上可以将药物使用和医疗服务的管理数据相联系。关于风湿病学的患者登记数据也可获取。这些数据对于更好地了解药物的有益和不良反应很有价值。还强调了利用这些数据源解决临床药理学问题的机遇和挑战。澳大利亚在国际上处于有利地位，能够为真实世界环境中药物疗效的知识库做出重大贡献。药物流行病学的发展对于治疗风湿病及其他病症患者的临床医生至关重要。
