Accuracy and reliability
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Welfare and HealthJonas Kirchheiner-Rasmussen
+45 61 50 23 80
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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.
Overall accuracy
Pharmacies are required by law to report the sale of prescription medicines. The pharmacies often reports through their own IT system, which reduces the risk of misreporting.
Sampling error
Not relevant for this statistic
Non-sampling error
The statistics cover the sale of medicines via prescription, it does not however guarantee that the medicines have actually been used.
The statistics only contain information on sales to persons, and no information on medicines sold to hospitals - the hospital sector or used in medical practices.
Quality management
Statistics Denmark follows the recommendations on organisation and management of quality given in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and the implementation guidelines given in the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF). A Working Group on Quality and a central quality assurance function have been established to continuously carry through control of products and processes.
Quality assurance
Statistics Denmark follows the principles in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and uses the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF) for the implementation of the principles. This involves continuous decentralized and central control of products and processes based on documentation following international standards. The central quality assurance function reports to the Working Group on Quality. Reports include suggestions for improvement that are assessed, decided and subsequently implemented.
Quality assessment
It is assessed that the quality of data from The Register of Pharmaceutical Sales is high.
Data revision - policy
Statistics Denmark revises published figures in accordance with the Revision Policy for Statistics Denmark. The common procedures and principles of the Revision Policy are for some statistics supplemented by a specific revision practice.
Data revision practice
Statistics Denmark revises published figures in accordance with the Revision Policy for Statistics Denmark. The common procedures and principles of the Revision Policy are for some statistics supplemented by a specific revision practice.