ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to point out certain discrepancies and inaccuracies in reporting data concerning the consumption of cardiovascular pharmaceuticals (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical code C, cardiovascular system) - measured in defined daily doses (DDDs) per 1,000 inhabitants per day - as reported by the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic for the year 2014. This data also appears in the online database of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Statistics. METHODS: First, we take the Czech wholesalers' data by DDD as reported to the OECD, and we compare this Czech data with the Slovak data. We calculate the Slovak data by the method traditionally used in the Slovak Republic (SDS - standard dose of substance). However, the data we use for the Slovak Republic is that reported by health insurance companies and hospital pharmacies, while the official data reported to the OECD is based on wholesalers' reports. Secondly, we recalculate medicine consumption for both countries using DDD. RESULTS: A comparison based on the first methodological approach shows the Slovak Republic having a higher consumption of cardiovascular medicines than the Czech Republic. A second comparison, using the same measurement tool (DDD) for both countries, shows cardiovascular medicine consumption to be actually lower in the Slovak Republic as compared to the Czech Republic. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that, when actual DDDs for both countries are used, cardiovascular pharmaceutical consumption in the Slovak Republic is shown to be lower than in the Czech Republic.
ABSTRACT
To the Editor, Drug utilization is an important field of drug policy and an integral part of public health internationally. This area of research attracts increasing interest but the pioneering work was done 50 years ago when the first drug consumption report from six European countries for the period of 1966-1967 showed great differences in drug utilization between population groups (WHO, 1968). These results gave important stimulus for creation of Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and technical unit of measurement called the Defined Daily Dose (DDD) which is specified as "the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults" that dealt with the objections against traditional units of measurement in drug utilization studies (WHO, 2016). The ATC/DDD methodology has in the meantime proved its suitability in drug utilization monitoring and research. As mentioned previously, consumption of pharmaceuticals is often used as a basis for comparison between countries. Based on our professional expertise, we decided to analyze the consumption of cardiovascular medicines by DDD in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic within all ATC groups reported to OECD (OECD, 2016a). According to OECD indicator results, the Slovak Republic showed in 2014 a higher pharmaceutical consumption by DDD in ATC group C (cardiovascular system) compared to the Czech Republic (OECD, 2016a).
