Respiratory symptoms/diseases, impaired lung function, and drug use in two Italian general population samples.
BACKGROUND
Research and practice indicate that a sizeable amount of prescribed drugs is never used.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the habitual up-take of medicines in subjects with respiratory symptoms/diseases or impaired lung function in general population samples.


METHODS
Data regard 4010 subjects (8-88 years) from the rural area of Po River Delta (North Italy) and the urban area of Pisa (North-Central Italy). Analyses concern the habitual use of any or specific medicines (broncho-pulmonary, anti-allergic, cardio-vascular, diuretic) in subjects with asthma, chronic bronchitis/emphysema (COPD), COPD or chronic cough/phlegm (COPDsx), and airways obstruction (AO, FEV(1)/FVC<70%).


RESULTS
Asthma, COPD, COPDsx, and AO were present in 6%, 5%, 21%, and 13% of cases, respectively. Only 37% and 21% of subjects with respiratory symptoms/diseases used any or specific medicines, respectively. The subjects with COPD exhibited the highest prevalence of assumption (59% for any drug, 38% for specific medicines), followed by asthmatics (42% and 30%), and subjects with AO (40% and 25%). After accounting for sex, age, residence area, smoking habit, education, and presence of comorbidity, the conditions significantly related to any medicine up-take were COPD (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.08-2.53) and asthma (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.01-2.12). Only asthma resulted significantly associated with the use of specific drugs (OR 3.11, 95% CI 1.94-4.97). Drug use was higher in the urban than in the rural area.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that most people in the general population do not use drugs, in spite of reported respiratory disorders. The underuse of medicines seems lower in the urban area.
Simoni
Marzia
M
Pulmonary Environmental Epidemiology Unit, CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, Via Trieste, 41, 56126 Pisa, Italy. marzia_simoni@libero.it
Carrozzi
Laura
L
Baldacci
Sandra
S
Borbotti
Marco
M
Pistelli
Francesco
F
Di Pede
Francesco
F
Maio
Sara
S
Angino
Anna
A
Viegi
Giovanni
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004232:Diuretics / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents; D004232:Diuretics