title: [Population analysis by area of health of changes in consumption, price and expenditure of cardiovascular drugs in eight autonomous communities, Spain, 2005].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Variability in cardiovascular drugs is of great interest because of its high population use, its high expenditure and the availability of strong evidence supporting its use. The aim of this study is to describe variation in dispensation, price and pharmaceutical expenditure for 11 subgroups of cardiovascular drugs by healthcare areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a population study describing dispensation for 11 subgroups of cardiovascular drugs among healthcare areas in 2005.
  
  
  METHODS
  93 healthcare areas of the 8 participant Autonomous Regions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive analysis of dispensation (Defined Daily Dose (DDD) per 1,000 pensioners and day (DDD/1000P/Day), average price (euros per DDD), pharmaceutical expenditure (euros per 100 pensioners) and standardized consumption ratios. Small-area variation analysis was used to analyze observed variability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consumption of cardiovascular drugs oscillated between 324 DDD/1000p/Day for drugs with action on the renin-angiotensin system, and 6.5 DDD/1000p/Day for anti-aldosterone diuretics. Variation in consumption for areas in the 5th and 95th percentiles went from 1.8 times (digitalics) to 17.2 times (flavonoids), although most of the groups showed an extremal quotient of around 5. Variation in average prices was lower than in consumption (1.1 times for doxazosin and 3.7 for flavonoids) and variations in pharmaceutical expenditure was similar to variation in consumption (from 2.0 timesfor digitalics to 13.0 times for flavonoids).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Major variations in the consumption of cardiovascular drugs between healthcare areas, together with discreet variations in price mean there are big differences in pharmaceutical expenditure from one population to another.
authors.affiliation: Centro Superior de Investigación en Salud Pública (CSISP), Valencia. sanfelix_gab@gva.es
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sanfélix-Gimeno
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peiró
authors.forename: Julián
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Librero
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ausejo-Segura
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suárez-Alemán
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Molina-López
authors.forename: Celaya M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Concepción
authors.forename: Eusebi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castaño-Riera
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004071:Digitalis Glycosides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004232:Diuretics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017292:Doxazosin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016527:Drug Costs; D004363:Drug Utilization; D006801:Humans; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009566:Nitrates / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010415:Pensions; D017891:Pharmacoepidemiology; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017062:Small-Area Analysis
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D004071:Digitalis Glycosides; D004232:Diuretics; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents; D009566:Nitrates; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D017292:Doxazosin