Drug utilization

Drug utilization

Poster

Vesela Mehandzhieva1, Emil Hristov1, Kalina Andreevska1, Iva Parvova2
1Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, SU "St. Kliment Ohridski", Bulgaria
2Department of Rheumatology, Medical University Sofia, Bulgaria

Introduction: Drug utilization research was defined by The World Health Organization in 1977 as “the marketing, distribution, prescription, and use of drugs in a society, with special emphasis on the resulting medical, social and economic consequences„. Aim: The objective is to study the nature of drug utilization and its necessity for the rational use of medicines. Method: Documentary method and content analysis were used. Results: The need for drug utilization research has led to the development of different approaches and types of studies for its research - Cross-sectional, Longitudinal and Continuous longitudinal. These studies provide information on the level of drug use aggregation, indications, prescribed daily dose, prescriber and patient information, efficacy and adverse drug reactions of therapy. Depending on the information needed, different types of drug therapy costs are considered and different sources of drug utilization data are cited. The ATC classification system divides drugs into different groups according to the organ or system they act on and according to their chemical, pharmacological and therapeutic properties. The concept of a defined daily dose is introduced - an assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. These international standards allow data to be compared between different countries. Conclusion: Without knowledge of how drugs are prescribed and used, it is difficult to initiate a discussion about rational drug use or to propose measures to improve prescribing habits. Drug utilization studies alone do not necessarily provide answers, but they contribute to rational use.
Keywords: drug utilization, ATC classification, defined daily dose