International Variation in Drug Usage

A new RAND study explores the range of possible causes that might explain observed international variations in the usage of medicines for selected disease areas: dementia, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, and hepatitis C.

Drawing on a rapid evidence assessment, RAND explores, for each of the 5 disease areas, epidemiological factors such as the disease burden and aspects of health system and service organisation that were shown to have a direct or indirect impact on drug usage, such as reimbursement mechanisms, access to diagnosis and treatment more broadly.

A range of factors are likely to play a role in explaining international variation in medicines use, but their relative importance will vary depending on the disease area in question and the system context.

Read the report at RAND: http://bit.ly/15GYWbC