Overbeek Jetty A, Swart Karin M A, Houben Eline, Penning-van Beest Fernie J A, Herings Ron M C
Department Research, PHARMO Institute for Drug Outcomes Research, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Clin Epidemiol. 2023 Jan 5;15:1-11. doi: 10.2147/CLEP.S389598. eCollection 2023.
When using incomplete or non-representative real-world data (RWD), bias is more likely to occur. The aim of the current study was to assess the completeness and representativeness of the PHARMO GP data for the Dutch population.
A cross-sectional study was performed. The PHARMO GP data comprise data from electronic health records registered by GPs. Data on the Dutch population were obtained from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), which offers publicly available data on several themes. The standardized difference (std.diff) was used to compare proportions between the PHARMO GP population and the Dutch population. An absolute std.diff >0.2 was considered a difference.
On January 1st, 2018, 3,466,321 persons were included in the PHARMO GP data (mean age: 41.6 years, 49.7% males). The sex and age distribution was similar to the Dutch population. The PHARMO GP data captured less not urbanized areas compared to the Dutch population (not urbanized areas: 9.4% vs 17.1% [std.diff: -0.23]). Regarding medication use, only the pharmacological subgroups "viral vaccines" and "hormonal contraceptives for systemic use" differed (std.diff >0.2); use in the GP data was more complete than in the Statistics Netherlands (CBS) data. No differences were observed regarding diagnoses.
The PHARMO GP data are representative of the Dutch population with regard to the demographic characteristics and diagnoses in primary care. Medication data in the PHARMO GP data are more complete than national statistics, and differences are related to reimbursement. Use of the data and interpretation of results based on these sources should be done with experts on the data sources, the Dutch healthcare system and (pharmaco)epidemiology.
使用不完整或不具代表性的真实世界数据（RWD）时，更有可能出现偏差。本研究的目的是评估荷兰人群的PHARMO全科医生（GP）数据的完整性和代表性。
进行了一项横断面研究。PHARMO GP数据包括来自全科医生登记的电子健康记录的数据。荷兰人群的数据来自荷兰统计局（CBS），该局提供了多个主题的公开可用数据。使用标准化差异（std.diff）来比较PHARMO GP人群与荷兰人群之间的比例。绝对std.diff>0.2被视为有差异。
2018年1月1日，PHARMO GP数据纳入了3,466,321人（平均年龄：41.6岁，男性占49.7%）。性别和年龄分布与荷兰人群相似。与荷兰人群相比，PHARMO GP数据涵盖的非城市化地区较少（非城市化地区：9.4%对17.1% [std.diff：-0.23]）。在药物使用方面，只有“病毒疫苗”和“全身用激素避孕药”这两个药理学亚组存在差异（std.diff>0.2）；全科医生数据中的使用情况比荷兰统计局（CBS）数据中的更完整。在诊断方面未观察到差异。
PHARMO GP数据在初级保健的人口统计学特征和诊断方面代表了荷兰人群。PHARMO GP数据中的药物数据比国家统计数据更完整，差异与报销有关。基于这些来源的数据使用和结果解释应由数据来源、荷兰医疗保健系统和（药物）流行病学方面的专家进行。
