Medication and pharmacoepidemiology

During the examinations at the study centres, the medication that the NAKO participants are currently taking is asked about and recorded (question: “in the last seven days”). In the case of medicines taken regularly, the daily dose is also asked about. The data set contains information on the medicines with ATC coding.

Pharmacoepidemiology analyses the use and safety of medicines in population groups. Researchers use epidemiological methods to investigate scientific questions about medicines on the basis of the NAKO data. A special feature of the NAKO data on medicines compared to conventional pharmacoepidemiological data sources is the fact that information is not only available on prescribed medicines, but also on non-prescription medicines (so-called over-the-counter medication).