Studies using Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data for pharmacoepidemiological research: a systematic...

Research using dispensing claims is used increasingly to study post-market medicines use and outcomes. The purpose of this review is to catalogue more than 25 years of published literature using Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) dispensing records.

We searched MEDLINE, PreMEDLINE and Embase and conducted author searches for studies published from 1987 to 2013. Independent reviewers screened abstracts of 3209 articles and reviewed 264 full-text manuscripts. Included studies used PBS dispensing data to measure patterns and/or outcomes of prescribed medicines use or dispensing claims to derive a proxy for a specific disease cohort or health outcome.

Of the 228 studies identified, 106 used PBS claims only (56 using claims-level data and 50 using individual-level data) and 63 studies linked individual-level PBS claims to other health data. Most commonly, studies examined trends in drug utilisation (33%), clinician and patient practices (26%), drug use and outcomes (18%) and evaluations of intervention impacts (17%). Sixty-two percent of studies using individual-level data were based on a subset of elderly Australians. Most studies focused on drug classes acting on the nervous system (36%), cardiovascular system (15%) and alimentary tract (11%). Few studies examined prescribed medicines use in children and pregnant women.

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme claims represent a significant resource to examine Australia's billion-dollar annual investment in prescribed medicines. The body of research is growing and has increased in complexity over time. Australia has great potential to undertake world-class, whole-of-population pharmacoepidemiological studies. Recent investment in data linkage infrastructure will significantly enhance these opportunities.