Drug prescription patterns for rheumatic disorders in Sweden.

Drug prescription patterns, expressed in defined daily doses (DDD), were registered during the 1970s for disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) and for nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID). An increased prescription of DMARD was found at a national level (Sweden), starting with chloroquine, followed by penicillamine and finally by gold. This same tendency was seen at a county (Västerbotten) and a university hospital level (Umeå). Among NSAID for oral use, the prescription of indomethacin and phenylbutazone gradually decreased in Sweden. Naproxen and ibuprofen increased rapidly, surpassing the others from 1975. This increase was far less marked at the county level and at the rheumatology department of Umeå in which the overall prescription of NSAID for inpatients decreased during the 70s.