Data resource profile: Norwegian databases for drug utilization and pharmacoepidemiology

Abstract

In this article we aim to give researchers and other users of drug utilization data a current overview of the two nationwide Norwegian drug databases located at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), with reference to some historical background. The first database, “The Norwegian Drug Wholesales Statistics”, dating back to 1974, provides total sale figures of all medicines on the market. The second database, “The Norwegian Prescription Database” (NorPD), dates back to 2004 and covers prescription drugs dispensed by pharmacies. This database will be modernized during 2021 and renamed (“The Norwegian Prescribed Drug Registry”, name not finally decided), and all historical data will be migrated to the modernized registry. In the future, the most valuable add-on to the modernized prescription database will be individual level data from in-patients in hospitals and health care institutions, and the possibility to obtain aggregated data from each institution. Together, the two nationwide databases will continue to be the cornerstones of drug utilization data in Norway and should be used more extensively to improve health to the best for individuals and society. Development in national e-health programs will play a key role in providing easier and less time-consuming access to data and improve conditions for linkage of drug data to other health registries in the near future.