2002 Volume 22 Issue 4 Pages 321-329
The Japanese Society of Hospital Pharmacists established in 2000 a science subcommittee to conduct “studies on the rational use of drugs using pharmacoepidemiological methods.” This committee is conducting studies on “pharmacoepidemiological analysis of hospital drug usage data” and “activities to promote pharmacoepidemiological methods.”
In the study of “the pharmacoepidemiological analysis of hospital drug usage data,” methods to conduct pharmacoepidemiological researches using the records obtained from hospital information systems of patients seen by hospital pharmacy departments and pharmacies affiliated with hospitals, namely, records not specifically intended for epidemiological studies, are evaluated. A survey was conducted on the use of antibiotics for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) based on drug usage data contained in hospital information systems from 3 institutions. Problems in researches on the proper use of drugs based on drug usage data from hospital information systems were discussed. Objective and efficient data collection from multiple institutions becomes possible by specifying the drug names and relevant items, and by defining the necessary basic information among the whole data present in the hospital information system; the data collected in this manner can be used for pharmacoepidemiological researches.
