Determinants of drug utilisation in a Swedish municipality

Background The cost for pharmaceuticals is rapidly increasing in most countries. Identification of the characteristics of the population that determine drug utilisation appears essential for the appropriate allocation of resources to caregivers. The primary aim of this study was to identify sociodem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety 2004-02, Vol.13 (2), p.97-103
Main Authors: Al-Windi, Ahmad, Elmfeldt, Dag, Svärdsudd, Kurt
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Attitude to Health
Chronic Disease
determinants
Drug Costs
Drug Prescriptions
Drug Utilization
Female
herbal medicine
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
perceived health
Pharmaceutical Preparations - economics
pharmaceuticals
Self Medication
sociodemography
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Sweden - epidemiology
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Summary:Background The cost for pharmaceuticals is rapidly increasing in most countries. Identification of the characteristics of the population that determine drug utilisation appears essential for the appropriate allocation of resources to caregivers. The primary aim of this study was to identify sociodemographic factors and measures of well‐being and disease that were independently related to the use of drugs, including herbal, and self‐care products in Håbo, a Swedish primary health care district. Another aim was to evaluate combinations of such factors that may improve the prediction of drug utilisation. Methods A postal questionnaire was sent to a representative age‐stratified population sample from Håbo. Out of 1312 subjects in the population sample, 827 (63%) answered the questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions on sociodemographic variables, well‐being and symptoms and use of drugs, herbal and self‐care products. Results Chronic disease was the most important of several factors that identified users of drugs. Other important factors were female sex, poor perceived health, sick‐leave or disability pension and a high number of symptoms (complaint score). When combined, these variables could explain 18% of the use of prescribed pharmaceuticals using the logistic regression model. Conclusion Several sociodemographic characteristics as well as perceived health, complaint score and chronic disease were independently related to the use of drugs and self‐care products. The likelihood of using prescribed drugs was very high in subjects with a certain profile. Eighteen per cent of the use could be attributed to this profile. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:1053-8569
1099-1557
DOI:10.1002/pds.864