Determinants of medicine use in a Swedish primary health care practice population

Background Pharmaceuticals represent an increasing share of private and public health care expenditures. The aim of this study was to characterise users and to determine the pattern of uses of prescribed medicines and to identify determinants of medicine use in a multi-ethnic Swedish general practice population. Methods The study was performed in 1055 of 1442 consecutive adult patients visiting the Jordbro Health Centre (JHC) in Stockholm, Sweden. Results In a regression analysis adjusted for the influence of confounders, subjects reporting 10-30 complaint symptoms, subjects with chronic disease and subjects that had a cost limitation card all reported a higher number of used medicines than subjects with a few (0-10) symptoms and those without chronic disease and a cost limitation card. In a Poisson's regression analysis, high age, female gender, not working, more than 10 symptoms, chronic disease and having a cost limitation card were related to use of prescribed medicines. All included variables predicted 19% of the explanation. Marital status, multi-symptomatology, chronic disease and having a cost limitation card were related to polypharmacy in a logistic regression analysis. Conclusion A high number of complaint symptoms, chronic disease and having a cost limitation card were all significantly and independently related to use of medicines and polypharmacy. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.