title: Agreement between self-reported antihypertensive drug use and pharmacy records in a population-based study in The Netherlands.
abstract: From 1987 to 1991, over 36,000 men and women aged 20-59 years have been examined in the Monitoring Project on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in The Netherlands. Classification of the treatment status of hypertensives in this population-based study was based on self-administered questionnaires. In order to assess the accuracy of self-reported antihypertensive drug use we compared the questionnaire information with computerized pharmacy records from a sample of 372 hypertensive subjects. Most antihypertensive drugs that were mentioned in the questionnaire were present in the pharmacy medication history (93%). However, this percentage was less (76%) when a comparison was made with the calculated duration of use based on the number of units prescribed and the directions for use in the pharmacy records. About 94% of the hypertensive subjects who were using an antihypertensive drug according to the pharmacy records, also mentioned at least one antihypertensive drug in the questionnaire. Agreement between self-reported antihypertensive drug use and pharmacy records was consistently high for all classes of antihypertensive drugs. Among 321 (86%) subjects, the number and types of self-reported antihypertensive drugs were exactly the same as in the pharmacy records. In conclusion, the agreement between self-reported antihypertensive drug use and pharmacy records was high, and the self-reported questionnaire information on antihypertensive drug use can be reliably used for the classification of treatment status of hypertensive subjects in this population-based study.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Pharmacoepidemiology & Pharmacotherapy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: O H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Klungel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Paes
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Herings
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Seidell
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bakker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000592:standards*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents