Medicamentos en el domicilio familiar. Estudio de costes

Justification: Medication expenditures are a key item of the public health budget. For the most part these expenditures are generated at home, however there are no studies in Spain about their cost. Objective: To learn about the cost, in Euros, of at-home medications, per family unit (FU), person and socio-demographic factors. Methodo: Observational study using a structured questionnaire in a home interview with the person managing the family's medicine chest (FMC). The general population came from two towns in the Valencian Community during the years 2001-2003. 300 FU (968 people) were selected by randomly "pointing a finger" on a street map along with random tables for street and apartment numbers. We sent out a letter and phoned the prospective participants. 464 FU were contacted, and 164 (35.3%) chose not to participate. The main measures were: brand name, usage (last 15 days and FMC) prescription origin, socio-demographic variables and cost. Results: 6,468 drugs and medicinal herbs (93.9% drugs) were shown to those being interviewed. The cost was 39,893.3�. In their FMC, 297 FU had 4,131 (68%) drugs; dermatological drugs were the most used therapeutic group (24%) and the respiratory group was the one with the highest cost (19.5%). In the last 15 days, 668 people consumed 1,942 (32%) drugs (54.5% of the cost); central nervous system drugs were the most used therapeutic group (21.5%) and the cardiovascular group was the one with the highest cost (26.1%). Men took more drugs than women, but more expensive. For the remaining variables, we found differences both for the average drugs/person and for the cost. The most expensive drugs were those prescribed by the physician. Conclusions: There is an important cost for unused at-home drugs. We should establish systems that would reduce such unnecessary risk and costs