The application of population based health surveys in pharmacoepidemiologic studies in Norway
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5324/nje.v11i1.535Abstract
ABSTRACT
There has been a modest interest in pharmacoepidemiologic research in Norway, especially when considering
that drugs are comprising the most common medical treatment and the health care segment with the
most rapidly increasing costs in health care. There may be several explanation for the relatively low
research output. One may be the generally poor access to information from issued drug prescriptions.
Comprehensive population based health surveys have been carried out in Norway for many years. The
health surveys have also been used as a basis for studies of drug use, and they have made it possible to
collect important background information associated with drug use. However, health surveys have primarily
had their origin in etiological research and the charting of major diseases in the population. Information
on drug use has primarily been included as indicators of morbidity. The questions about drug use have
therefore been general and covered the use of most drug groups. They have usually included both prescription
and non-prescription drugs.
The more recent health surveys include questions on drugs with a more focused approach. More questions
are now directed towards more defined health problems and drugs.
Access to individual based drug information from issued prescriptions, with the possibility of doing record
linkage studies combining data from the health surveys and prescription information, may contribute
significantly to the quality of pharmacoepidemiologic research in Norway.
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