A descriptive review of the methodologies used in household surveys on medicine utilization
2008

Review of Household Surveys on Medicine Use

Sample size: 61 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Bertoldi Andréa D, Barros Aluísio JD, Wagner Anita, Ross-Degnan Dennis, Hallal Pedro C

Primary Institution: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil

Hypothesis

What methodologies are used in household surveys on medicine utilization?

Conclusion

The review provides insights into current methodologies used in household surveys on medicine utilization, which can help improve future studies.

Supporting Evidence

  • 61 studies met the inclusion criteria from an initial search of 4852 papers.
  • More than 80% of studies used face-to-face interviews for data collection.
  • Most studies reported using random sampling strategies.

Takeaway

This study looks at how people are asked about the medicines they use at home, helping researchers understand better ways to ask these questions.

Methodology

Systematic review of original papers with data collected in studies where the household was a sampling unit, published between 1995 and 2008.

Potential Biases

Potential reporting bias due to reliance on self-reported data from interviews.

Limitations

The review may not cover all methodologies used in studies outside the specified time frame or those not published in the selected databases.

Participant Demographics

Most studies were conducted in Europe and North America, with a focus on various age groups including children and the elderly.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1472-6963-8-222

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