title: High concordance between self-reported medication and official prescription database information.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We set out to compare the agreement between self-reported psychotropic medication use and information obtained from the administrative prescription database of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. We compared the point prevalence of psychotropic medication use, and self-reported vs. register-based information on antipsychotic medication dosage.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population consisted of 905 participants from a population-based genetic study of schizophrenia, of whom 366 had schizophrenia spectrum disorder, 56 had bipolar spectrum disorder, and 483 were unaffected family members. Current medication use was obtained by interview and from the prescription reimbursement database. Agreement between data sources was compared using Cohen's kappa statistic and correlation coefficients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The agreement between the two sources was generally good. Kappa values were best for lithium use (0.96; p < 0.0001), followed by antipsychotics (0.87; p < 0.0001) and antidepressants (0.77; p < 0.0001). Agreement was lowest for benzodiazepines (0.42; p < 0.0001). Correlation between antipsychotic medication dose estimates was 0.79 (95% CI 0.76-0.81).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The concordance between self-reported psychotropic medication use and information obtained from an official prescription database was good for most psychotropic drugs. More studies are needed to replicate results with other forms of medication and patient groups.
authors: Department for Mental Health and Alcohol Research, Mannerheimintie 166, 00300, Helsinki, Finland. jari.haukka@ktl.fi
authors: Jari
authors: J
authors: Haukka
authors: Jaana
authors: J
authors: Suvisaari
authors: Annamari
authors: A
authors: Tuulio-Henriksson
authors: Jouko
authors: J
authors: Lönnqvist
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003625:Data Collection; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005190:Family; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D018020:Lithium Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017891:Pharmacoepidemiology / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012042:Registries; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012650:Self Disclosure
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D018020:Lithium Compounds; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
references: Schizophr Res. 2004 Dec 1;71(2-3):195-212
references: 15474892
references: Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2004 May;83(5):476-81
references: 15059162
references: Schizophr Bull. 1998;24(1):1-10
references: 9502542
references: Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2006 Mar;98(3):311-3
references: 16611207
references: J Clin Epidemiol. 2001 Nov;54(11):1181-6
references: 11675171
references: BMJ. 2006 Jul 29;333(7561):224
references: 16825203
references: BMJ. 2007 Feb 3;334(7587):242
references: 17164297
references: Med Arh. 1999;53(3 Suppl 3):57-60
references: 10870628
references: Am J Med Genet. 1997 Jul 25;74(4):353-60
references: 9259368
references: Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2006 Mar;98(3):260-5
references: 16611200
references: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006 Dec;63(12):1358-67
references: 17146010
references: Eur J Hum Genet. 2000 Aug;8(8):604-12
references: 10951523
references: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001 Dec;58(12):1161-7
references: 11735845