Åpne denne publikasjonen i ny fane eller vindu >>2011 (engelsk)Inngår i: Health Policy, ISSN 0168-8510, E-ISSN 1872-6054, Vol. 101, nr 2, s. 153-161Artikkel i tidsskrift (Fagfellevurdert) Published
Abstract [en]
Background:
The total drug sales has increased substantially during the last decades. The increase is assumed to be associated with the observed increase in the individual use of several different drugs, the so-called multiple medications.
Objective:
To analyse the acquisition cost of dispensed prescription drugs for individuals with multiple medications in a national population.
Study design, setting and participants:
An individual based register study of all dispensed prescription drugs (DP) in Sweden in 2006, including 6.2 million individuals. As an indicator of multiple medications, five or more dispensed prescription drugs (DP≥5) during a 12-month period was applied. For comparison, ten or more (DP≥10) and fifteen and more (DP≥15) dispensed drugs during a 12-month period were used.
Results:
The total acquisition cost of dispensed drugs in Sweden in 2006 was SEK 23.2 billion, (corresponding to EUR 2.5 billion 2006). Individuals with DP≥5 (24.5% of total population) accounted for 78.8% of the total drug cost, and individuals with DP≥10 (8.6% of population) and DP≥15 (3.0% of population) accounted for 46.3% and 23.2% respectively.
Individuals with DP>5 younger than 70 years of age (corresponding to 64.9% all individuals with DP>5) accounted for 64.7% of the total acquisition cost for all with DP>5.The highest total drug cost for individuals with DP>5 was displayed in the age group 60-69 followed by 70-79 and 50-59 years, 21.5%, 19.8%, and 17.4%, respectively.
The average acquisition cost per daily defined dosage (DDD) generally decreased with increasing age. For individuals with DP≥5, the average cost per DDD decreased from SEK 8.04 to SEK 2.27 (-72%) for the age group 10-19 to 90 years and above. The highest average cost per DDD was observed for individuals with DP≥10.
The drug cost for women with DP≥5 (corresponding to 60.9% all individuals with DP>5) represented 56.0% of the total cost. Men with DP≥5 (corresponding to 39.1% all individuals with DP>5) represented 44.0% of the total cost.
For individuals with DP≥5, the average cost per DDD was SEK 4.31 (corresponding to EUR 0.46 2006), for women 4.08, and for men 4.62.
Conclusion:
Individuals with ten or more drugs accounted for almost half of the acquisition costs of dispensed drugs. In order to reduce the risks for adverse drug reactions, interactions and inappropriate drug us, interventions with focus on reduction of the number of prescription drugs for the small group of patients with many different drugs, may therefore also give a substantial reduction of the total drug costs.
HSV kategori
Forskningsprogram
Naturvetenskap, Biomedicinsk vetenskap
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-2185 (URN)10.1016/j.healthpol.2011.03.003 (DOI)000292671300006 ()2-s2.0-79957992695 (Scopus ID)
2010-04-072010-04-072022-07-13bibliografisk kontrollert