Ian W Boyd1, John McEwen, Lisa J Calcino. 1. Adverse Drug Reactions Unit, Therapeutic Goods Administration, Department of Health and Ageing, Woden, Australia. ian.bod@health.gov.au
Abstract
AIM: To estimate the percentage of patients dispensed alendronate who were also dispensed another drug for treatment of an upper gastrointestinal disorder ('GI' drug). METHODS: The Australian Health Insurance Commission (HIC) Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) database was searched to identify a cohort of patients for whom alendronate or calcitriol had been dispensed and had also been dispensed a GI drug. RESULTS: The number of patients dispensed a GI drug were 6.7% for alendronate and 7.5% for calcitriol with H(2)-receptor antagonists accounting for the majority of usage. This difference of - 0.8% (95% confidence interval -1.6, 0.1) is not significant. CONCLUSION: There was no excess use of GI drugs in patients taking alendronate compared with those taking calcitriol and the Australian HIC PBS database is useful for identifying large numbers of patients who have been dispensed combinations of drugs.
AIM: To estimate the percentage of patients dispensed alendronate who were also dispensed another drug for treatment of an upper gastrointestinal disorder ('GI' drug). METHODS: The Australian Health Insurance Commission (HIC) Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) database was searched to identify a cohort of patients for whom alendronate or calcitriol had been dispensed and had also been dispensed a GI drug. RESULTS: The number of patients dispensed a GI drug were 6.7% for alendronate and 7.5% for calcitriol with H(2)-receptor antagonists accounting for the majority of usage. This difference of - 0.8% (95% confidence interval -1.6, 0.1) is not significant. CONCLUSION: There was no excess use of GI drugs in patients taking alendronate compared with those taking calcitriol and the Australian HIC PBS database is useful for identifying large numbers of patients who have been dispensed combinations of drugs.
Authors: D M Black; S R Cummings; D B Karpf; J A Cauley; D E Thompson; M C Nevitt; D C Bauer; H K Genant; W L Haskell; R Marcus; S M Ott; J C Torner; S A Quandt; T F Reiss; K E Ensrud Journal: Lancet Date: 1996-12-07 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: P C de Groen; D F Lubbe; L J Hirsch; A Daifotis; W Stephenson; D Freedholm; S Pryor-Tillotson; M J Seleznick; H Pinkas; K K Wang Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 1996-10-03 Impact factor: 91.245