Inclusion of the birth cohort dimension improved description and explanation of trends in statin use

OBJECTIVE: Including the birth cohort dimension improves trend studies of mortality and health. We investigated the effect of including the birth cohort dimension in trend studies of prescription drug use by studying prevalence of statin use among adults. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Data from a drug prescription database in the Netherlands (IADB.nl) were used to obtain the number of users of statin per 1,000 population (prevalence) in the age range 18-85 years from 1994 to 2008. We applied descriptive graphs and standard age-period-cohort (APC) models. RESULTS: From 1994 to 2008, the prevalence... Mehr ...