Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2024 Jan;62(1):20-28. doi: 10.5414/CP204485.
Large databases have played a critical role in pharmacoepidemiological research in the last decade, with this role likely to gain further importance in the future. The aim of the present paper is to describe the characteristics, the recent use, and the limitations of the German longitudinal prescription (LRx) database. The LRx database contains patient-level data on prescriptions collected in retail pharmacies, corresponding to ~ 80% of prescriptions reimbursed by statutory health insurance funds in Germany. The LRx database includes a higher proportion of older adults and women compared to the overall German population with statutory health insurance. Coverage per family of drugs ranges from 71.8% for antiepileptics to 94.7% for urological agents. Multiple pharmacoepidemiological studies based on the data from the German LRx database have been published in the last years on topics such as patterns of prescription and treatment adherence and persistence. A large number of disorders have been investigated in this research (e.g., type 2 diabetes, inflammatory diseases, and psychiatric conditions). The major limitations of the LRx database are the lack of formal diagnoses and the absence of hospital data. In conclusion, the German LRx database could be a key source of data for future pharmacoepidemiological studies.
在过去十年中，大型数据库在药物流行病学研究中发挥了关键作用，未来这一作用可能会更加重要。本文旨在描述德国纵向处方 (LRx) 数据库的特点、近期用途和局限性。LRx 数据库包含从零售药店收集的处方的患者水平数据，占德国法定健康保险基金报销处方的~80%。与拥有法定健康保险的德国总人口相比，LRx 数据库中的老年人和女性比例更高。每种药物的家庭覆盖率从抗癫痫药的 71.8%到泌尿科药物的 94.7%不等。基于德国 LRx 数据库数据的多项药物流行病学研究近年来已就处方和治疗依从性和持久性等主题发表。在这项研究中，已经研究了许多疾病（例如 2 型糖尿病、炎症性疾病和精神疾病）。LRx 数据库的主要局限性是缺乏正式诊断和医院数据。总之，德国 LRx 数据库可能是未来药物流行病学研究的重要数据来源。
