The Po River delta epidemiological study: Use of medicines in a general population sample of North Italy

Purpose - To provide information on the actual use of medicines in a genera l population sample. Methods - Information was collected in a general population sample of North Italy (1946 subjects; 938 males, 1008 females) by an interviewer-administe red questionnaire. Results - Of the subjects 25.9% took habitually at least one medicine, wher eas 11.1% used medic aments only occasionally. The use of medicines was sig nificantly higher in females than in males (p < 0.001), but only in 15-44-y ear-old females, because of the use of oral contraceptives. The use of medi cines increased with ageing (OR = 1.80, p < 0.001). The highest use of habi tual medicaments was found in subjects of 55 + years of both sexes. In both sexes, the medicines classified in the cardiovascular therapeutic group we re the most frequently used. The use of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular medicines was significantly higher in males than in females (p < 0.001). I n males, the use of habitual medicines was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in current smokers and ex-smokers than in never smokers. Only 23% of aller gic subjects used antiallergic medicines, and only 35% of subjects with res piratory symptoms/diseases used medicines classified into the bronchopulmon ary therapeutic group. The percentage of subjects who reported cardiovascul ar symptoms/diseases and used medicines classified in the cardiovascular th erapeutic group was greater (62%). Conclusions - We stress the importance of data collection in general popula tion samples by questionnaires to investigate the actual use of medicines. This may give a more accurate estimate of medicine use than is possible fro m pharmacy sales or hospital records. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.