Consumption of antihypertensives in Slovenia and comparison with Norway
Abstract
Background: Prescribing antihypertensives is increasing in Slovenia and worldwide. This article is aimed to analyze changes in prescribing antihypertensives in Slovenia in the years 2002–2008, as well as to find out to what extent the prescribing followed the Slovenian guidelines. Furthermore, the consumption of antihypertensives in Slovenia was compared with the consumption in the same period in Norway. Methods: We acquired statistical data on the number of primary care prescriptions of antihypertensives and defined daily doses (DDD) per 1000 inhabitants per day from the publications Primary Care Prescribing of Drugs in Slovenia, based on Anatomical-Therapeutic-Chemical Classification (ATC), published by the National Institute of Public Health for each year from 2002 to 2008. We calculated the number of prescriptions of each active ingredient, registered in Slovenia, of antihypertensive subgroups C02, C03, C07, C08 and C09 as well as for whole subgroups. Data on the consumption of antihypertensives in Norway were acquired from the website of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Results: In Slovenia, the number of prescriptions for antihypertensives per 1000 inhabitants increased by 57 % during the period 2002–2008. The increase in prescribing antihypertensives was highest between 2002 and 2003. Each year, the most widely prescribed drugs in Slovenia were agents acting on the renin-angiotensin system and the most widely prescribed active ingredient from this subgroup was enalapril. During the studied period, the relative consumption of beta blocking agents increased the most. In Slovenia, relatively more antihypertensives from the C02 subgroup and agents acting on the renin-angiotensin system (C09), but less diuretics (C03), beta blocking agents (C07) and calcium channel blockers (C08) were used, compared to Norway. Conclusions: Consumption of antihypertensives in Slovenia increased by more than a half in the period 2002–2008. The association between the increasing number of prescriptions for antihypertensives and the quality of arterial hypertension control in Slovenia has not been evaluated yet. Compared to Norway, Slovenia is more oriented to prescribing agents acting on the renin-angiotensin system.Downloads
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