Papoz L
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 21, Villejuif, France.
Epidemiology. 1993 Sep;4(5):421-7. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199309000-00007.
An indirect method for estimating the prevalence rates of chronic diseases that are treated by specific drugs was proposed in 1988 to European countries in the framework of a European Community concerted action on diabetes epidemiology. Data on consumption of antidiabetic drugs were collected at the national level in nine countries and at a regional level in two. Using official drug sales data and recent demographic data, we estimated the diabetes prevalence rates in each country or region. The estimated diabetes prevalence in Europe varied from 1.6% in Northern Ireland to 4.7% in Malta. In four countries that already had diabetes prevalence data, the estimation through drug consumption provided figures 3-20% lower than those from field surveys. This study showed a large variety of prescribing habits for diabetic patients in Europe (for example, the proportion of insulin-treated patients varies from 13% to 36%) and underscores the need for a consensus on antidiabetic treatments based on valid clinical research. The proposed approach does not replace field surveys but provides an inexpensive and practical marker of disease frequency and therapeutic attitudes over space and time.
1988年，在欧洲共同体关于糖尿病流行病学的协同行动框架内，为欧洲国家提出了一种估算特定药物治疗的慢性病患病率的间接方法。在九个国家的国家层面以及两个地区的区域层面收集了抗糖尿病药物的消费数据。利用官方药品销售数据和最新人口数据，我们估算了每个国家或地区的糖尿病患病率。欧洲估算的糖尿病患病率从北爱尔兰的1.6%到马耳他的4.7%不等。在四个已经有糖尿病患病率数据的国家，通过药物消费进行的估算得出的数字比实地调查的数字低3%至20%。这项研究显示了欧洲糖尿病患者的处方习惯差异很大（例如，接受胰岛素治疗的患者比例从13%到36%不等），并强调了基于有效临床研究在抗糖尿病治疗方面达成共识的必要性。所提出的方法并不能取代实地调查，但提供了一个在空间和时间上疾病频率和治疗态度的廉价且实用的指标。
