Hur ofta skrivs anvädningsområde t på läkemedel inom ATC-rupp N04 (medel vid parkinsonism)?
Adherence to medical ordination is low and for long-time medication it is estimated to be as low as 50 percent. Depending on the prescribed drug this could lead to adverse effects and/or loss of effect of the drug. Information about why a drug is prescribed is important patient information and is thought to help increase compliance with the physician?s prescription. According to results from a recent study of visits to the emergency room at Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset in Solna, Stockholm, medically related problems were the cause in about 30 percent of the cases. According to the same study 11 percent of these visits were due to problems with patient adherence. Specifying indications on prescriptions could be a way to enhance drug compliance. Furthermore clinical indications on prescriptions ensure that the correct drug is administered for the correct condition. The purpose of this study was to examine how often indications were found on prescription labels on anti-parkinson drugs, ATC-code N04.Prescription data were collected from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. A total of 22 994 prescriptions of anti-parkinson drugs dispensed in October 2007 were transferred from the register in Excel-files. Information about the patient?s year of birth and gender was included as well as the name of the drug, ATC-code, amount of drug dispensed, strength and information about the prescribed drug. Prescriptions lacking information about the patient?s year of birth or gender was excluded as well as prescriptions for animals.On prescriptions for anti-parkinson drugs, with a total of 22 939 prescriptions after exclusion, half of them were provided with indication labelling. Indication labelling was more common on prescriptions for women. As regards patients older than 85 years, 63 % of the prescriptions were labelled with indication.