(Arzneimittel)Routinedaten als Datenbasis für die Versorgungsforschung und Pharmakoepidemiologie

The aim of this PhD thesis is to discuss strengths and methodological difficulties in using (prescription) claims data of German statutory health insurances for pharmacoepidemiology and health services research.For many years, large health care databases have been used for research purposes in North America and several European countries. Conducting a systematic review of publications using German insurance claims data on medications, it will be shown, that these data have been increasingly used over the last decade.In the third chapter, I describe two self-conducted studies based on German insurance claims data concerning high usage of the hypnotics zolpidem and zopiclone and concerning the utilization of intravenous bisphosphonates.Methodological issuses will be discussed in the fourth chapter. In three studies, I assessed whether information relevant for research purposes is accurately recorded in computerized claims data over the years 2000-2006. I further examined problems concerning privately paid prescriptions and compounded prescriptions, which are coded by a special group code (Sonder-PZN) with no specific information available on the drug dispensed.