Prevalence, incidence and persistence of antipsychotic drug prescribing in the Italian general population: retrospective database analysis, 1999-2002.

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence, incidence and persistence with antipsychotic drug therapy in a large and geographically defined catchment area of Italian general population.

Methods: All antipsychotic drug prescriptions dispensed during 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 were extracted from an administrative prescription database covering a population of 2 640 379 individuals. Antipsychotic drug users were defined as patients who had at least one recorded prescription in the current year.

[A cross-sectional survey to evaluate the cardiovascular risk profile in subjects referred to the Verona-ASL 20 general practitioners].

Background: Most of the studies on the identification of cardiovascular risk factors have been conducted either in northern Europe or in the United States. However, genetic as well as dietary factors may vary across different countries and geographical areas and there are few data about the cardiovascular risk profile in our country.

Methods: A sample of 3144 subjects (1463 males, 1681 females aged 35-74 years) were randomly selected among the population qualifying for healthcare assistance, registered with 170 general practitioners.

Are we going to increase the use of antidepressants up to that of benzodiazepines?

Objective: The present study compared recent trends in benzodiazepine and antidepressant consumption in Italy and projected their global sales in the future. We investigated whether the increasing use of antidepressants is associated with a progressive reduction in benzodiazepine use.

Methods: Data concerning actual quantities of benzodiazepines and antidepressants dispensed in Italy from 1995 to June 2003 were obtained from IMS Health.