Recent trends in the prescribing of cholesterol lowering drugs in Australia. A report from the Drug Utilization Subcommittee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee

Abstract

Objective: To determine the recent pattern of use of hypolipidaemic drugs in the Australian community. Design: Drug utilisation study employing prescription data collected during the operation of the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Setting: Non-hospital drug use in Australia. Patients: All patients, pensioners and non-pensioners, who received prescriptions for hypolipidaemic agents under the PBS between January 1987 and December 1989. Main outcome measures: The total number of prescriptions, average quantity dispensed with each prescription, defined daily doses (DDD) and Australian population figures for pensioners and non-pensioners were used to express the consumption of h..