PGI26 - The Comparison Of The Use Of H2-Receptor Antagonists And Proton Pump Inhibitors Between Serbia And Scandinavian Countries

Abstract

To analysis of the pattern of the consumption of histamine H2-receptor antagonists (H2RAs) and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) (ATC subgroup A02B) in Serbia in correlation with Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) The data on consumption of medicines during the four-year period (2007-2010) have been provided from the databases of the national regulatory agencies. The results were expressed as the number of defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID). A qualitative analysis was carried out according to the drug utilization 90% (DU90%) approach During the period 2007-2010, the overall consumption of A02B subgroup medicines in Serbia decreased by 7.8%, opposite to Scandinavian countries where the consumption continuously increased in all countries, up to 56% in Denmark. In 2010, H2RAs accounted for 71.78% (16.46DID) of medicines used within A02B subgroup in Serbia, while in Scandinavian countries the share of H2RAs was in the range of 1.08 DID in Sweden up to 5.75 DID in Norway. Despite the increase by 34.3%, consumption of PPIs in 2010 in Serbia (6.45 DID) was up to 7.6 times lower than in the Scandinavian countries (49.1 DID in Denmark). The bulk of prescription (DU90%) in 2010 was made up of 3 (out of 7) medicines in Serbia, 2, 4 and 5 (out of 14) medicines in Sweden, Denmark and Finland respectively, and 5 (out of 10) medicines in Norway. Most frequently used medicine in Serbia was ranitidine (55.9%), in Sweden and Denmark omeprazole (80.3% and 30.3% respectively), in Norway esomeprazole (34.1%) and in Finland pantoprazole (28.5%) The overall utilization of medicines from A02B subgroup was notably lower in Serbia than in Scandinavian countries. Besides the quantity, the pattern of use showed significant differences suggesting that implementation of guidelines in Serbia is needed in order to achieve harmonization in prescribing practice