Summary
Epidemiological studies of elderly people have tended to avoid estimations of medication prevalence and adverse effects, partly because of the practical difficulties of capturing medication data and then rendering them analysable. This article describes a versatile coding system for medication data entry that greatly simplifies the process of medication analysis in epidemiological field studies.
Five-digit numerical codes are used to identify individual preparations, and the system’s hierarchical nature allows aggregation to a number of levels. To date, the MedCap (Medication Capture) system has been used successfully in 3 different ways in 2 major longitudinal studies of elderly people in Australia, and offers a possible solution to the practical difficulties of field pharmacoepidemiology.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Stockton P, Jones JK. Medication use by the elderly. Aging (Mi-lano) 1993; 5: 337–47
Campbell AJ, McCosh L, Reinken J. Drugs taken by a population based sample of subjects 65 years and over in New Zealand. N Z Med J 1983; 96: 378–80
Sobel G, McCart GM. Drug use and accidental falls in an intermediate care facility. Drug Intell Clin Pharm 1983; 17: 539–42
Grisso JA, Kelsey JL, Strom BL, et al. Risk factors for falls as a cause of hip fracture in women. N Engl J Med 1991; 324: 1326–31
Baker KA, Levy SM, Chrischilles EA. Medications with dental significance in a nursing home population. Spec Care Dentist 1991; 11: 19–25
Thomson WM, Slade GD, Spencer AJ. Dental caries experience and the use of prescription medications among people aged 60+ in South Australia. Gerodontology 1995; 12: 104–10
Loesche WJ, Bromberg J, Terpenning MS, et al. Xerostomia, xerogenic medications and food avoidance in selected geriatric groups. J Am Geriatr Soc 1995; 43: 401–7
Ramsay FM, Millard PH. Tardive dyskinesia in the elderly. Age Ageing 1986; 15: 145–50
Campbell AJ, Diep C, Reinken J, et al. Factors predicting mortality in a total population sample of the elderly. J Epidemiol Community Health 1985; 39: 337–42
Ettinger RL. Xerostomia - a complication of ageing. Aust Dent J 1981; 26: 365–71
Pahor M, Chrischilles EA, Guralnik JM, et al. Drug data coding and analysis in epidemiologic studies. Eur J Epidemiol 1994; 10: 405–11
Psaty BM, Lee M, Savage PJ, et al. Assessing the use of medications in the elderly: methods and initial experience in the Cardiovascular Health Study. J Clin Epidemiol 1992; 45: 683–92
Fried LP, Borhani NO, Enright P, et al. The Cardiovascular Health Study: design and rationale. Ann Epidemiol 1991; 1: 263–76
WHO. Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification index. Oslo: WHO, 1995
Helling M, Venulet J. Drug recording and classification by the WHO Research Centre for International Monitoring of Adverse Reactions to Drugs. Methods Inf Med 1974; 13: 169–78
Hale WE, Stewart RB, Cerda JJ, et al. Use of nutritional supplements in an ambulatory elderly population. J Am Geriatr Soc 1982; 30: 401–3
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thomson, W.M. A Medication Capture and Analysis System for Use in Epidemiology. Drugs & Aging 10, 290–298 (1997). https://doi.org/10.2165/00002512-199710040-00005
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00002512-199710040-00005