Changes in prevalence of and prescribing for ischaemic heart disease in Ireland 1990-2002.

Background: Secondary prevention therapies, such as angiotension converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, beta-blockers and statins, are known to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and the prescribing of secondary preventive therapies in the period 1990-2002.

Methods: The General Medical Services prescription database was used to identify the study cohort, those with CHD, in each year 1990-2002.

The standardized prescribing ratio--a new method for comparing prescribing between GPs, controlling for patient age and sex.

Objectives: To develop a method for comparing the proportion of patients on any drug or group of drugs for individual GP patient panels in Ireland, taking account of the age and sex structure of the panel.

Design: Calculations based on prescribing data for the fourth-quarter of 1995 supplied by the Irish General Medical Services Payments Board for the Eastern Health Board area.Setting-Five hundred and fifty Irish general practices serving 355,000 persons entitled to free medical care under the General Medical Services Scheme in the Eastern Health Board area (28% of the population).

Changing trend in congenital abdominal wall defects in eastern region of Ireland.

In the past six years, there have been reports from abroad of an unexplained rise in the birth prevalence rate of the congenital abdominal wall defect gastroschisis, while rates for the macroscopically similar anomaly omphalocoele have remained stable. The Dublin EUROCAT Registry of congenital anomalies monitors trends in the birth prevalence of birth defects in the eastern region of Ireland. We analysed births of children with omphalocoele and gastroschisis born in the period 1981-2000, with comparisons of a number of demographic and obstetric variables.

East Ireland 1980-1994: epidemiology of neural tube defects.

Study Objective: The objective of the study was to describe the epidemiology of neural tube defects (NTD) in the eastern region of Ireland using the EUROCAT register of congenital malformations.

Design, Setting And Patients: EUROCAT registries monitor the prevalence of congenital anomalies in defined populations using multiple sources for case ascertainment. All cases of NTD on the Dublin EUROCAT register born between 1980 and 1994 were extracted and analysed.

The epidemiology of Down syndrome in four counties in Ireland 1981-1990.

Background: We conducted a descriptive epidemiological study of Down syndrome (DS) in the four Irish counties (Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Galway) covered by EUROCAT registries of congenital malformations for the years 1981-1990.

Methods: EUROCAT registries, which cover defined populations, use multiple sources for case ascertainment. All DS cases born between 1 January 1981 and 31 December 1990 to mothers resident in the four counties were identified.