Data sources for drug utilization research in Latin American countries—A cross-national study: DASDUR-LATAM study

Purpose: Drug utilization research (DUR) contributes to inform policymaking and to strengthen health systems. The availability of data sources is the first step for conducting DUR. However, documents that systematize these data sources in Latin American (LatAm) countries are not known. We compiled the potential data sources for DUR in the LatAm region. Methods: A network of DUR experts from nine LatAm countries was assembled and experts conducted: (i) a website search of the government, academic, and private health institutions; (ii) screening of eligible data sources, and (iii) liaising with national experts in pharmacoepidemiology (via an online survey). The data sources were characterized by accessibility, geographic granularity, setting, sector of the data, sources and type of the data. Descriptive analyses were performed. Results: We identified 125 data sources for DUR in nine LatAm countries. Thirty-eight (30%) of them were publicly and conveniently available; 89 (71%) were accessible with limitations, and 18 (14%) were not accessible or lacked clear rules for data access. From the 125 data sources, 76 (61%) were from the public sector only; 46 (37%) were from pharmacy records; 43 (34%) came from ambulatory settings and; 85 (68%) gave access to individual patient-level data. Conclusions: Although multiple sources for DUR are available in LatAm countries, the accessibility is a major challenge. The procedures for accessing DUR data should be transparent, feasible, affordable, and protocol-driven. This inventory could permit a comparison of drug utilization between countries identifying potential medication-related problems that need further exploration.Fil: Lopes, Luciane C.. University Of Sorocaba; BrasilFil: Salas, Daiana Maribel. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Osorio de Castro, Claudia Garcia Serpa. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Freitas Leal, Lisiane. McGill University; CanadáFil: Doubova, Svetlana V.. Mexican Institute of Social Security; MéxicoFil: Cañás, Martín. Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche; Argentina. Federación Médica de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Dreser, Anahi. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública; MéxicoFil: Acosta, Angela. Universidad ICESI; ColombiaFil: Oliveira Baldoni, Andre. Federal University of São João Del-Rei; BrasilFil: de Cássia Bergamaschi, Cristiane. University of Sorocaba; BrasilFil: Marques Mota, Daniel. Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency; BrasilFil: Gómez Galicia, Diana L.. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos; MéxicoFil: Sepúlveda Viveros, Dino. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Narvaez Delgado, Edgard. No especifíca;Fil: da Costa Lima, Elisangela. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Chandia, Felipe Vera. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Ferre, Felipe. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Marin, Gustavo Horacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Olmos, Ismael. State Health Services Administration; UruguayFil: Zimmermann, Ivan R.. Universidade do Brasília; BrasilFil: Fulone, Izabela. University of Sorocaba; BrasilFil: Roldán Saelzer, Juan. Instituto de Salud Pública; ChileFil: Sánchez Salgado, Juan Carlos. No especifíca;Fil: Castro Pastrana, Lucila I.. Universidad de Las Américas de Puebla; MéxicoFil: de Souza, Luiz Jupiter Carneiro. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Machado Beltrán, Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Tolentino Silva, Marcus. University of Sorocaba; BrasilFil: Mena, María Belén. Universidad Central del Ecuador; EcuadorFil: de França Fonteles, Marta Maria. Universidade Federal do Ceara; BrasilFil: Urtasun, Martín Alejandro. Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche; Argentina. Federación Médica de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Data sources for drug utilization research in Latin American countries - a cross-national study : DASDUR-LATAM study

PURPOSE: Drug utilization research (DUR) contributes to inform policymaking and to strengthen health systems. The availability of data sources is the first step for conducting DUR. However, documents that systematize these data sources in Latin American (LatAm) countries are not known. We compiled the potential data sources for DUR in the LatAm region. METHODS: A network of DUR experts from nine LatAm countries was assembled and experts conducted: (i) a website search of the government, academic, and private health institutions; (ii) screening of eligible data sources, and (iii) liaising with national experts in pharmacoepidemiology (via an online survey). The data sources were characterized by accessibility, geographic granularity, setting, sector of the data, sources and type of the data. Descriptive analyses were performed. RESULTS: We identified 125 data sources for DUR in nine LatAm countries. Thirty-eight (30%) of them were publicly and conveniently available; 89 (71%) were accessible with limitations, and 18 (14%) were not accessible or lacked clear rules for data access. From the 125 data sources, 76 (61%) were from the public sector only; 46 (37%) were from pharmacy records; 43 (34%) came from ambulatory settings and; 85 (68%) gave access to individual patient-level data. CONCLUSIONS: Although multiple sources for DUR are available in LatAm countries, the accessibility is a major challenge. The procedures for accessing DUR data should be transparent, feasible, affordable, and protocol-driven. This inventory could permit a comparison of drug utilization between countries identifying potential medication-related problems that need further exploration