Pharmacoepidemiology

Pharmacoepidemiology can be defined as the application of epidemiologic reasoning, methods, and knowledge to the study of the uses and effects of drugs in human populations.[1]

Scientific expertise in Pharmacoepidemiology includes:

  • content knowledge related to drug safety, pharmacovigilance, comparative effectiveness, drug utilization, and risk management;
  • technical expertise in epidemiologic methods, measurement issues specific to drugs, clinical services, and diagnosis, and secondary data analysis.

Examples of pharmacoepidemiologic research include:

  • drug safety studies (e.g, the detection of new safety concerns after drug approval);
  • comparative effectiveness studies (e.g, the evaluation of);
  • drug utilization studies (e.g, the description of trends in or determinants of the use of certain medications).

For further information about Pharmaocoepidemiology, please visit the following sites:

 

 

[1]Hartzema AG, Porta M, Tilson HG.  Pharmacoepidemiology – An Introduction. Harvey Whitney Books Compnay, Cincinnati, OH 1997