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A novel method for signal detection of adverse drug reactions based on proportional reporting ratios

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Abstract

Objective The proportional reporting ratio (PRR) is a statistical method for signal detection of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) based on unbalanced proportions. Although effective, this method only takes into account the proportional relation based on target adverse reactions and ignores the relation between a given ADR and the others for the same drug. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the calculation deviation in PRR. In this study, we developed a novel PRR (NPRR) method and compared it with the original PRR method for the purpose of a combined application of these two methods for ADR signal detection. Methods NPRR is also based on unbalanced proportions, in which the proportion for a given ADR is linked to a specific drug (or all other drugs), and then divided by the corresponding proportion for all other ADRs. Results Applying this method to the ADR data of Jiangsu Province, China in 2008 and 2009, we detected 3,021 signals. Compared with the PRR method, the sensitivity of our method is 0.99, the specificity is 0.97, and the Youden index is 0.96. Conclusion NPRR is an excellent method supplementary to PRR. The combination of these two methods can reduce calculation deviation and detect ADRs more effectively.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mr. Zichun Fang for editing this manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (09CTQ022) and the 6th Project of Six Industries of JiangSu Province of China (09-E-016).

Conflicts of interest

None to be declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Science, Nanjing College for Population Program Management, 210042, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Jian-Xiang Wei

  2. Jiangsu Center for ADR Monitoring, 210002, Jiangsu Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Ming Li, Ye Lu & Hou-Ming Xu

  3. School of Mathematical Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 210097, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Yue-Hong Sun

Authors
  1. Jian-Xiang Wei
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  2. Ming Li
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  3. Yue-Hong Sun
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  4. Ye Lu
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  5. Hou-Ming Xu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hou-Ming Xu.

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Wei, JX., Li, M., Sun, YH. et al. A novel method for signal detection of adverse drug reactions based on proportional reporting ratios. Pharm World Sci 32, 658–662 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-010-9421-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-010-9421-x

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