Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Trends in utilization of antiepileptic drugs in Denmark

2006; Wiley; Volume: 113; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1600-0404.2006.00639.x

1600-0404

Ioannis Tsiropoulos, Anthony Gichangi, Morten Andersen, Lars Bjerrum, David Gaist, Jesper Hallas,

Pharmacological Receptor Mechanisms and Effects

To describe utilization of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in Denmark during 1993-2002, with special emphasis on oxcarbazepine, and to assess probable indications for AED use.We retrieved prescription data from Odense University Pharmacoepidemiological Database, in Funen County, Denmark (population in 2002: 472,869). Within each calendar year we estimated period prevalence, incidence rate and monotherapy rate. Based on co-medication we defined 'epilepsy' when only AEDs were prescribed, 'pain' with co-prescription of opioids, and 'mood disorder' with co-prescription of antipsychotics or antidepressants.We identified 15,604 AED users. The prevalence of using AED increased from 9.3 (95% CI, 9-9.5) to 12.1 (11.8-12.4)/1000 persons. The incidence rate increased from 1.4 (1.3-1.6) to 1.7 (1.6-1.9)/1000 personyears. The monotherapy rate was 79-82%. AED use for 'epilepsy' declined by 19.7%, whereas the proportion of 'pain' and 'mood disorder' treatment increased by 11.2% and 8.4% respectively.Antiepileptic drug utilization increased during the study period, the increase probably caused by expanding use in areas other than epilepsy.