Time trends of period prevalence rates of patients with inhaled long-acting beta-2-agonists-containing prescriptions: a European comparative database study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Inhaled, long-acting beta-2-adrenoceptor agonists (LABA) have well-established roles in asthma and/or COPD treatment. Drug utilisation patterns for LABA have been described, but few studies have directly compared LABA use in different countries. We aimed to compare the prevalence of LABA-containing prescriptions in five European countries using a standardised methodology. METHODS:A common study protocol was applied to seven European healthcare record databases (Denmark, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands (2), and the UK (2)) to calculate crude and age- and sex-standardised annual period prevalence rates (PPRs) of LABA-containing prescriptions from 2002-2009. Annual PPRs were stratified by sex, age, and indication (asthma, COPD, asthma and COPD). RESULTS:From 2002-2009, age- and sex

SUBMITTER: Rottenkolber M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4338187 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature