Comparison of drug utilization across countries

Le résumé fourni par la source

KEY POINTS• Cross-national comparisons (CNC) of drug utilization allow benchmarking between countries and can stimulate the discussion of improving the quality of prescribing, dispensing, and consumption of medicines.• CNC studies require an in-depth evaluation of the comparability of drug and population coverage between the countries involved, since variations in data availability, population demography, disease prevalence, and the organization and provision of health care can jeopardize the comparison.• Recent publications of CNC studies showed a high variation of topics handled and data sources used to conduct comparative research on drug utilization.• The Good Practice Guideline and CNC Checklist for conducting and reporting cross-national studies, recently developed by EuroDURG, will be helpful tools to ensure the validity of comparison of drug utilization across countries and to improve the quality of future CNC research.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.