6 July 2009

Australians’ use of medicines, including natural remedies, is the focus of a national census launched this week by the National Prescribing Service Ltd (NPS) and the University of Melbourne.

The National Census of Medicines Use in Australia focuses on how Australians use their medicines, including prescription, non-prescription and complementary medicines.

It is the first national census to survey what combinations of medicines people take, how people find information about medicines and whether they have experienced problems with their choices.

“There is currently limited information about Australians’ medicines use, especially combinations of prescription, over-the-counter and complementary medicines,” NPS CEO, Dr Lynn Weekes said.

“PBS data captures just one aspect of medicine use, and doesn’t show if patients are taking other non-PBS medicines at the same time. The census will give us a far better understanding of what’s really happening. The results will be used to inform NPS programs to help Australians use medicines safely and effectively,” Dr Weekes said.

The study was developed after an initial pilot, conducted by Dr Marie Pirotta from the Primary Care Research Unit, University of Melbourne, found that in a given 24-hour period there was widespread use of mixing prescription and over-the-counter medicines with natural therapies.

“These initial findings alerted us to the need to conduct a larger scale study, particularly to ensure people understand that mixing medications could be dangerous,“ Dr Pirotta said.

The aims of the project are to:

• understand the pattern of use of prescription, non-prescription and complementary medicines
• estimate the prevalence of poor health outcomes due to mixing medicines
• better understand adverse drug reactions
• investigate how people find information about medicines.

This first phase of the research involves surveying a random sample of 3,500 Australians aged 50 years and older. Participants will be asked to detail their daily and occasional medicines use during specific periods over the next 12 months. The second phase of the research will involve Australians aged 18-49 years.

For further information visit www.nps.org.au/research/medicinescensus

ENDS