Prescription drugs
Published Dec 1, 2012 · G. R. Weitoft, Ö. Ericsson, J. Fastbom
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
45
Citations
4
Influential Citations
Abstract
One of the most common medical actions performed by a doctor is to prescribe medicine for a patient [1]. In 2007, two in every three Swedes purchased at least one prescription drug at a pharmacy. The volume of drugs dispensed by pharmacies increases by 3–4 per cent every year. Recent years have seen the addition of a number of new and more effective drugs. The cost of prescription drugs rose by about 10 per cent annually in the period 1986–2002. However, the rate of increase has since slowed due to changes in the rules on pharmaceutical benefits, primarily those governing generic substitution. The combined cost of all medicines, i.e. prescription drugs, prescription-free drugs and drugs administered during hospital care, accounted for 11.6 per cent of total health and medical care costs in 2006. Pharmaceutical drug use patterns among women and men differ, as does drug use within social groups. Although these disparities are partly accounted for by variation in the disease burden across population groups, there are also gender and social disparities that cannot readily be attributed to differences in the needs of those who use prescription drugs. Examples include drugs for treating dementia and post-heart attack patients, which long-term follow-ups show are used more extensively by the highly educated than by the less well educated. People born outside the EU are less likely to use recommended medicines for heart attacks, heart failure, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The elderly are using prescription drugs to an increasing extent, a pattern that entails risks as well as benefits. A major proportion of the most frequently used drugs have a proven effect in treating many of the diseases and conditions common among the elderly. At the same time, use of multiple drugs, or polypharmacy, carries the risk of side effects and drug-drug interactions as different medications affect one another. The elderly are particularly vulnerable. Sensitive to drugs owing to dementia or multiple morbidity, they are among those most often exposed to polypharmacy. As a result, drug treatment is not always entirely appropriate. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare has accordingly developed quality indicators [2] and assessed and discussed the quality of drug treatments for the elderly in a number of reports [3–5]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), deficiencies in drug prescribing are a principal cause of inadequate clinical treatment [6].