Antiasthmatic drugs in Iceland — an epidemiological survey

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenThe use of antiasthmatic drugs in Iceland has increased considerably during the last 15 years. The aim of this study was to assess in a well-defined epidemiological population the characteristics of those using antiasthmatic drugs; age, gender, speciality of prescribing doctor, dosage and combinations of drugs. Also their clinical diagnosis and symptoms. All individuals with prescriptions for antiasthmatic drugs that came to Icelandic pharmacies during March 1994 were invited to participate. Altogether 2026 individuals accepted (2687 prescriptions). There were proportionally more young males and middle aged females (p<0.0001). The prescriptions for beta2-adrenergic drugs were 1574, 838 for inhaled corticosteroids, 208 for theofylline, 49 for anticholinergic drugs and 19 for natrium chromoglycate. General practitioners had prescribed 68% of the drugs, 16.3% were from pulmonary physicians and/or allergists, 6.4% from pediatricians and 9.3% from other doctors. The treatment had been started by specialists other than general practitioners in more than 60% of cases. Among those using inhaled drugs 95% had been tought how to do so. The majority (66.9%) claimed that they were using the drugs because of asthma, 17.8% because of chronic bronchitis, 10.7% because of emphysema and 4.6% for other reasons. There were altogether 591 individuals (2=16 years) with asthma who answered the questionnaire. Among them 93% used beta2-adrenergic drugs, 62% inhaled corticoseroids, 19% theofylline and very few used other drugs. The most commonly used combination (57%) was beta-adrenergic drugs and inhaled corticoseroids. Altogether 31% used beta2-adrenergic drugs as monotherapy and 5% had only inhaled corticosteroids. Theofylline is mainly used in combination with beta-adrenergic drugs and inhaled corticosteroids. Its use as monotherapy is infrequent (2%). Among those 209 asthma patients who had used oral corticosteroids the last 12 months, 73% were using some kind of inhaled corticosteroids and 27% not.Notkun astmalyfja hefur aukist stórlega undanfarin ár. Markmið þessarar könnunar var að afla upplýsinga um ávísendur og notendur astmalyfja með því að skrá alla lyfseðla á astmalyf, sem bárust í íslensk apótek í marsmánuði 1994. Jafnframt var lagður spurningalisti fyrir notendurna þar sem notkun astmalyfja var könnuð nánar ásamt sjúkdómsgreiningum og klínískum einkennum. Alls voru skráðir 2026 einstaklingar sem komu með astmalyfseðla (52,2% konur og 47,8% karlar). Notendur voru hlutfallslega fleiri meðal ungra pilta og miðaldra kvenna (p