THE DRUG DATA-BASE OF THE PAWTUCKET HEART HEALTH-PROGRAM - DEVELOPMENT AND DESCRIPTION

Pharmacoepidemiology has become an important tool for identifying patt erns of drug use and adverse drug reactions in the general population. Drug data bases derived from population-based samples have been parti cularly useful in addressing questions such as adherence to national g uidelines for the treatment of chronic diseases. As part of the Pawtuc ket Heart Health Program, a continuing community-based research and de monstration project, detailed information regarding the use of drugs a mong the general population of two southeastern New England cities was collected using cross-sectional and longitudinal methodologies.