Recording of drug prescriptions in the county of Jämtland, Sweden. III. Drugs presented for blood donors in a 5 year period.

Drug prescriptions in the county of Jämtland, Sweden, have been examined in order to estimate drug exposure of blood donors. During the period 1970-74 a donor group (n = 292) purchased significantly more drugs than non-donors matched for age, sex and residential area in the county. This was true for most drug categories, except for cardiovascular and endocrine drugs and iron preparations. The actual consumption of the drugs obtained was not investigated. Prospective studies are required to assess the clinical consequences of the surprisingly high drug exposure of blood donors.