Drug consumption statistics 2018:2 Norwegian Prescription Database 2013–2017
Report
|Published
|The theme of this report is drug use among the elderly. It includes comprehensive information about the number of people who were dispensed drugs from pharmacies in Norway in the last five years.
Key message
The use of drugs in the population is increasing. An important goal of the health policies regarding pharmaceuticals in Norway is rational drug use.
In order to improve drug use, knowledge about which drugs are used, how they are used and who uses them is vital. In December 2002, the Parliament decided to establish a national prescription database in Norway (NorPD). The task of building up the registry was given to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). Since January 1st 2004, the institute has received monthly data on drug dispensed to patients, prescribers and institutions from all Norwegian pharmacies.
This report is the eleventh edition of the annual statistics from the NorPD and is a theme issue focusing on drug use in the elderly population (part 1). General information about the NorPD, drug statistics, classification of drugs and measurement methods is included in part 2 of the report. Part 3 contains selected key figures from the NorPD and the main tables with information about the number of individuals who had drugs prescribed and dispensed from pharmacies in Norway during the last five years (2013–2017).
The information includes particular drug substances as well as drug groups. ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) classification is used in the tables. The ATC/DDD version of January 2018 is used in the report, see WHO Collaboration Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology).
The NorPD also has a website where you can find additional information: www.norpd.no (English version).
It is also possible to apply for data from the NorPD for research or for other purposes which meet the objectives of the NorPD. More information can be found in part 3 of the report.
