Drug use during pregnancy in Sweden – assessed by the Prescribed Drug Register and the Medical Birth Register

Background: Potentially inappropriate drug use (IDU) is an important and preventable safety concern in the care of elderly patients and has been associated with adverse drug reactions, hospitalization, and mortality. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of potentially IDU among the elderly in Sweden and investigate whether age. sex, and number of dispensed drugs are associated with IDU. Methods: We analyzed data on age, sex, and dispensed drugs for people aged 75 years and older who were listed in the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register from October–December 2005 (N = 732 226). The main outcome measures of IDU were prescription of anticholinergics, prescription of long-acting benzodiazepines, concurrent use of 3 or more psychotropic drugs, and an indication of potentially serious drug-drug interactions. Results: Prevalence for IDU was 17%; for anticholinergic drugs 6%, long-acting benzodiazepines 5%, 3 or more psychotropic drugs 5%, and potentially serious drug–drug interactions 4%. After adjustment for age and sex, number of dispensed drugs was strongly associated with all 4 measures of IDU. After adjustment for sex and number of dispensed drugs, increasing age was moderately associated with a higher probability of IDU, long-acting benzodiazepines, and 3 or more psychotropic drugs, After adjustment for age and number of dispensed drugs, women had a slightly increased probability of IDU, anticholinergic drugs, long-acting benzodiazepines, and 3 or more psychotropic drugs. Conclusions: IDU was fairly common among the elderly in Sweden in 2005 and was strongly connected to the number of dispensed drugs they were taking. Older age and female sex were related to inappropriate use of psychotropic drugs, whereas the opposite relationship prevailed for potentially serious drug–drug interactions. Future research is needed to determine whether IDU will become more common due to increasing use of drugs among elderly persons. The challenge is to balance the problems related to IDU without denying older people potentially valuable drug therapy.

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Long-Term Time Trends in Reactivated Herpes Simplex Infections and Treatment in Sweden.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-757417/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Karin Lopatko Lindman ◽

Judith Lockman-Lundgren ◽

Bodil Weidung ◽

Jan Olsson ◽

Fredrik Elgh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Herpes Simplex ◽

Drug Use ◽

Uv Radiation ◽

Adult Population ◽

Antiviral Drug ◽

Antiviral Drugs ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Steady Increase ◽

Igm Antibodies ◽

Drug Register

Abstract Background: Our aim was to describe the annual prevalence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) reactivation in relation to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation and antiviral drug use in the Swedish adult population. Methods: The study comprised 2,879 anti-HSV-1 immunoglobulin (Ig) G positive subjects from five different cohorts who had donated serum from 1988–2010. The sera were analyzed for anti-HSV IgM using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Associations between the presence of anti-HSV IgM antibodies, the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele and the serum sampling year were assessed by logistic regression. Seasonality of anti-HSV IgM was evaluated in a UV radiation model. Data of antiviral drugs for the entire Swedish population were compiled from two different nationwide databases: the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register and the Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry. Results: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses indicated that the prevalence of anti-HSV IgM antibodies declined between 1988 and 2010 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.912, P < .001), while the total annual use of antiviral drugs in Sweden gradually increased from 1984 to 2017. Higher UV radiation was associated with higher prevalence of anti-HSV IgM antibodies (OR = 1.071, P = .043). Conclusion: The declining time trend of HSV reactivation coincides with a steady increase of antiviral drug use, indicating improved control of HSV reactivation in the Swedish adult population.

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