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Biomedical subjects

B Westerholm

Publications and source records attributed to B Westerholm.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Studies on drug utilization: bilateral case study in Poland and Sweden.

The utilization of drugs in Poland and Sweden was compared by two means: the defined daily doses (DDD) and the price-adjusted sales figures (PASF). Obtained results imply that the total pharmaceutical consumption in the countries under study is almost equal: in Poland-US $114.47 and in Sweden-US $109.77 per inhabitant. However, in particular groups and subgroups of drugs, significant differences in prescribing exist (Tables 1 and 2). Awareness of these may help doctors to improve their prescribing of drugs, and may prompt further studies on drug utilization where irrational use of drugs is not evident but suspected.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1988

[WHO and drugs].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Drug Therapy↗
PubMed1987

The rationale for a post-marketing surveillance.

Post-marketing surveillance is essential in order to protect patients against avoidable risks from medication. Complete assessment of a drug cannot, for practical reasons, be made before marketing. There are several methods which can be used in post-marketing surveillance. Spontaneous reporting on adverse drug reactions is a quick method, but underreporting is a problem. Intensive monitoring gives high quality data but is expensive. Health registers can be used to trace cases for case-control studies but diagnoses are sometimes incorrect. Prospective studies is an informative way to obtain results but they take time. Data on drug utilization are also valuable because they give an estimate of the size of the population using a particular drug. They also reveal whether warnings about adverse drug reactions have had any effect on the prescribing pattern.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1984

Relation between drug utilization and morbidity pattern.

Do drug utilization data, versus other health care data--such as causes of death and sick reports, discharge diagnoses, and number of days on the sick list--give a similar picture of the health status in Sweden? Though a number of discrepancies exist between these sources of information, analyses show that the similarities between the pictures they give of the health status are considerable, provided due consideration is given the facts that--for self-evident reasons--certain illnesses and injuries are not to be found in all the sources.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Drug utilization and morbidity statistics for the evaluation of drug safety in Sweden.

For a continuous monitoring and evaluation of drug safety problems in Sweden, the Department of Drugs of the National Board of Health and Welfare has access to a number of computerised patient-, drug-, and disease-oriented registers. The usefulness and limitations of these registers are presented by examples. A recent increase in asthma deaths is presently being analysed by comparing information from death certificates and case records with drug sales and prescription data. A recent analysis of the cancer register showed no increased risk of malignant thyroid tumors after diagnostic or therapeutic doses of I 131. Similarly no increased risk of malformations after occupational exposure to hexachlorophene could be detected by analysing the malformation and medical birth-record registers in relation to hospital hexachlorophene use. The register of patient discharge diagnoses has been repeatedly used to analyse the incidence and pattern of drug induced blood dyscrasias and thromboembolism associated with oral contraceptives (OC). These analyses have resulted i.a. in the withdrawal of dipyrone and tenalidine and a decrease of the estrogen-content of OCs. At the same time about 1/3 of these serious adverse drug reactions (ADR) was found to have been reported to the ADR-register. By combining sales and prescription data with ADR-reports the risk of inducing lactic acidosis was found to be significantly higher for phenformin than for metformin. Also the incidence of tardive dyskinesia from longterm use of metoclopramide was found to be much higher than hitherto recognized. By use of these registers it is possible to obtain valuable information about the safety of drugs. The raw data must, however, be interpreted with care and often be supplemented with in depth studies of the various problems.

Acidosis↗
PubMed1983

Cohort study of oestrogen treatment and the risk of endometrial cancer: evaluation of method and its applicability.

A Swedish study of the risk of endometrial cancer associated with oestrogen treatment was started in 1977. A prospective design was chosen and a cohort of 23,233 women receiving oestrogen medication was collected over a three-year period. Cohort members were recruited on the basis of prescription forms for oestrogens produced by all 120 pharmacies in a defined geographical region, resulting in comprehensive coverage of that region. A questionnaire study of a random sample (1/30) of the cohort permitted mapping of confounding factors, estimation of drug compliance and detailed characterization of oestrogen and progestagen exposures. Efficient follow-up of the cohort members was achieved by linkage of identity numbers of cohort members and those of all incident cases of endometrial cancer in the region. The expected outcome was calculated on the basis of accumulated person-years of observation in the entire cohort - and in subgroups - and age-specific incidence rates of endometrial cancer in the reference population. The present design may be generally useful for post-marketing studies of the association between drug use and side-effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Oral contraceptives and thromboembolic disease: effects of lowering oestrogen content.

The introduction of low-oestrogen oral contraceptives in Sweden and the concomitant disappearance of high-dose preparations did not result in a lowering of the mortality of fertile women from thromboembolic disease. Morbidity due to thromboembolism seems to have fallen, and the number of thromboembolic incidents reported to the Swedish Adverse Drug Reaction Committee decreased dramatically. The decrease was due exclusively to a reduction in venous thromboembolic disease: the frequency of arterial complications (cerebral and coronary) remained constant.

Adolescent↗