[Influence of patient's sex on the quality of medicine taken].
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the relationship between patient's sex and quality of medicine taken by monitoring the most pertinent predictive variables.


METHODS
Observational cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Thirteen Health Centres in the Community of Valencia.


METHODS
Adult users, selected by consecutive sampling.


METHODS
A semi-structured questionnaire collected the following variables: social and personal details, use of medicines for health problems, frequency of use of services, and place where prescription was issued. The quality of the medication was measured by its intrinsic value (IV).


RESULTS
412 of the 812 patients were women. Men took more medication with a high IV, and women more with an unacceptable IV. Women over 45 took more medication with a not-high IV. Multivariate analysis showed: a) women took one and a half times more medicines with a not-high IV than men, with differences not significant, and b) in the 45-64 age-group, being a woman operated as a modifier of effect, increasing prevalence of consumption of not-high IV to two and a half times more than men. This was adjusted for frequency of attendance, health problems and where the prescription was issued.


CONCLUSIONS
The study helped clarify the influence of gender on the quality of medicine, by pointing to the greater likelihood of women between 45 and 64 taking lower-quality medication. In addition, it showed the effect of where the prescription was issued and of health problems on explaining this difference in consumption.
Sanfélix Genovés
J
J
Centro de Salud Nazaret, Conselleria de Sanitat, Valencia, Spain.
Palop Larrea
V
V
Pereiró Belenguer
I
I
Martínez-Mir
I
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors