Sale of prescription drugs (experimental Statistics)
Contact info
Welfare and HealthJonas Kirchheiner-Rasmussen
+45 61 50 23 80
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The aim of the experimental statistics "Sales of prescription medicine" is to elucidate the population’s purchase of medicines via prescription. The statistics can be used to get insight into the distribution of redeemed prescriptions in relation to type of medicine, gender, age, geography and social conditions.
Statistical presentation
The statistics "Sales of prescription medicine (Experimental statistics)" contain information on all sales of human medicines in Denmark, which took place via prescription. The statistics also cover the sale of medicines that do not require a prescription but are sold on prescription. Sales are calculated in relation to the number of people who have redeemed a prescription and the number of prescriptions redeemed. The statistic covers the period from the 1st of January 2016 to the 31st of December for people with registered residence in Denmark by 1st of January of the related year.
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Statistical processing
Source data comes from the Danish Health Data Agency, which once a month calculates all sales of human and veterinary medicines in Denmark, after they have validated and quality checked the data.
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Relevance
The statistics may be relevant for authorities who wish to gain an insight into the population's redemption of prescriptions and an insight into the redemption of prescriptions among certain population groups with regard to e.g. gender, age, geography and social conditions.
Accuracy and reliability
Pharmacies are required by law to report data to The Danish Health Data Authority, but source data only cover sales of human medicines via prescription. This does not necessarily mean that the person who bought the medicine has taken the medicine. At the same time, the statistics do not contain information on the purchase of medicines without a prescription and it does not contain information about medicines used in hospitals or in medical practices. The statistics are not expected to be revised, as The Danish Health Data Authority very rarely corrects source data back in time.
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Timeliness and punctuality
The statistics will be published in February 2023, and is currently not expected to be published again.
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Comparability
Several comparable national and international statistics exist about the consumption of medicines. There are several factors that can influence the sales of prescription medicine. Regulations of witch medicines that require prescription and the amount of subsidies offered by the authorities, can vary from country to country and over time. Therefore it is important to be observant of these factors, if the statistics is used to evaluate the consumption of medicine over time or to compare consumption from country to country.
Accessibility and clarity
The statistic can be found in the Statbank under the subject Health. It is ensured, that there are at least 5 observation per cell. At this time it is not possible to order a tailor-made statistic.