Indre Treciokiene, Tomas Forslund, Thomas Kahan, Katja Taxis, Björn Wettermark
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: Studies on antihypertensive treatment are important, as hypertension remains the major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and premature death. However, antihypertensive medicines are also used for other conditions, and the use of these medicines as a proxy for a diagnosis of hypertension might lead to misclassification in pharmacoepidemiological studies. This study aimed to investigate to what extent people dispensed antihypertensive medicines have been diagnosed with hypertension.
Methods: Cross-sectional study with data covering all healthcare and all dispensed prescriptions of antihypertensive medicines 2019 and diagnoses recorded 2015-2019 from the Stockholm Region, Sweden. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to assess the probability of having hypertension concerning age, sex, and antihypertensive drug class.
Results: A total of 386 860 individuals were included, 49% men, 12% incident users, and 80% of all had a recorded diagnosis of hypertension. In 73% of incident users, only one antihypertensive drug class was dispensed, as compared to 36% of prevalent users. A total of 38% of incident users and 9% of prevalent users had none of the diagnoses selected for the study recorded in any health record during 5 years. Prevalent and older users over the age of 65 from high (50%-79%) to very high (80% and more) probability of a recorded diagnosis of hypertension. Patients on antiadrenergic agents, high-ceiling diuretics, aldosterone antagonists, or beta receptor blockers had a lower probability of having a recorded diagnosis of hypertension than patients dispensed angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, or calcium channel blockers.
Conclusion: Most patients dispensed antihypertensive medicines have a diagnosis of hypertension. However, caution is needed using data on dispensed medicines to classify incident antihypertensive users and younger patients as having a diagnosis of hypertension.
期刊介绍:
The aim of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety is to provide an international forum for the communication and evaluation of data, methods and opinion in the discipline of pharmacoepidemiology. The Journal publishes peer-reviewed reports of original research, invited reviews and a variety of guest editorials and commentaries embracing scientific, medical, statistical, legal and economic aspects of pharmacoepidemiology and post-marketing surveillance of drug safety. Appropriate material in these categories may also be considered for publication as a Brief Report.
Particular areas of interest include:
design, analysis, results, and interpretation of studies looking at the benefit or safety of specific pharmaceuticals, biologics, or medical devices, including studies in pharmacovigilance, postmarketing surveillance, pharmacoeconomics, patient safety, molecular pharmacoepidemiology, or any other study within the broad field of pharmacoepidemiology;
comparative effectiveness research relating to pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices. Comparative effectiveness research is the generation and synthesis of evidence that compares the benefits and harms of alternative methods to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor a clinical condition, as these methods are truly used in the real world;
methodologic contributions of relevance to pharmacoepidemiology, whether original contributions, reviews of existing methods, or tutorials for how to apply the methods of pharmacoepidemiology;
assessments of harm versus benefit in drug therapy;
patterns of drug utilization;
relationships between pharmacoepidemiology and the formulation and interpretation of regulatory guidelines;
evaluations of risk management plans and programmes relating to pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices.