Use of a German longitudinal prescription database (LRx) in pharmacoepidemiology.
Large epidemiological databases are often used to examine matters pertaining to drug utilization, health services, and drug safety. The major strength of such databases is that they include large sample sizes, which allow precise estimates to be made. The IMS® LRx database has in recent years been used as a data source for epidemiological research. The aim of this paper is to review a number of recent studies published with the aid of this database and compare these with the results of similar studies using independent data published in the literature. In spite of being somewhat limited to studies for which comparative independent results were available, it was possible to include a wide range of possible uses of the LRx database in a variety of therapeutic fields: prevalence/incidence rate determination (diabetes, epilepsy), persistence analyses (diabetes, osteoporosis), use of comedication (diabetes), drug utilization (G-CSF market) and treatment costs (diabetes, G-CSF market). In general, the results of the LRx studies were found to be clearly in line with previously published reports. In some cases, noticeable discrepancies between the LRx results and the literature data were found (e.g. prevalence in epilepsy, persistence in osteoporosis) and these were discussed and possible reasons presented. Overall, it was concluded that the IMS® LRx database forms a suitable database for pharmacoepidemiological studies.
IMS Health, Real World Evidence Solutions, Frankfurt, Germany.
Hartmut
H
Richter
IMS Health, Real World Evidence Solutions, Frankfurt, Germany.
Silvia
S
Dombrowski
Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, University of Erlangen, Germany.
Hajo
H
Hamer
Department of Women's Health, North West Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany.
Peyman
P
Hadji
Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Idstein, Germany.
Karel
K
Kostev
D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015994:Incidence; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007332:Insulin Infusion Systems; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D017891:Pharmacoepidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor
LRx; database; epidemiology