ArticleBMJ open2013
Differences in drug utilisation between men and women: a cross-sectional analysis of all dispensed drugs in Sweden.
Article in BMJ open, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Trends in age-sex-specific prevalence and incidence of antidepressant dispensation in the Nordic countries: a systematic review.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Sex and Gender in Immediate β-Lactam Antibiotic Allergy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2025Pooled it
- Medicine storage, wastage, and associated determinants among urban households: a systematic review and meta-analysis of household surveys.BMC public health · 2021Pooled it
- Polypharmacy in HIV: Rethinking what counts and why it matters.HIV medicine · 2026Review
- Treatments for COVID-19 and acute respiratory infections are associated with gender and comorbidities in an Italian online survey.PloS one · 2026Article
- Gender Differences in Antibiotic Prescriptions and Healthcare Visits Among Caregivers Accompanying Children with Respiratory Tract Infections: A Cross-Sectional Study.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2025Article
- Prior antibiotics exposure is associated with an elevated risk of surgical site infections, including anastomotic leakage, after colon cancer but not rectal cancer surgery: A register-based study of 38,839 patients.International journal of cancer · 2025Article
- Differences in Pharmacological Treatment of Heart Failure Among Persons with or without Major Cognitive Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on National Registries in Sweden.Drugs & aging · 2024Article
- Gender Differences in Pharmacokinetics: A Perspective on Contrast Agents.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2024Review
- Pain relief and associated factors: a cross-sectional observational web-based study in a Quebec cohort of persons living with chronic pain.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Sex and gender differences and pharmacovigilance: a knot still to be untied.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Measurement of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 activity by a simplified Geneva cocktail approach in a cohort of free-living individuals: a pilot study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
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- Oh my gut! Is the microbial origin of neurodegenerative diseases real?Infection and immunity · 2023Review
- Fluorine Mass Balance, including Total Fluorine, Extractable Organic Fluorine, Oxidizable Precursors, and Target Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, in Pooled Human Serum from the Tromsø Population in 1986, 2007, and 2015.Environmental science & technology · 2023Article
- Prediagnostic Prescription Antibiotics Use and Survival in Patients with Colorectal Cancer: A Swedish National Register-Based Study.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2023Article
- A nationwide pharmacovigilance investigation on trends and seriousness of adverse events induced by anti-obesity medication.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- Pharmacotherapeutic profile, polypharmacy and its associated factors in a cohort of people living with HIV in Brazil.AIDS research and therapy · 2023Article
- Comparison of prioritisation algorithms for the selection of patients for medication reviews in the emergency department: a cross-sectional study.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Article
- Prevalence of sleep disorder diagnoses and sleep medication prescriptions in individuals with ADHD across the lifespan: a Swedish nationwide register-based study.BMJ mental health · 2023Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesAscertain the extent of differences between men and women in dispensed drugs since there is a lack of comprehensive overviews on sex differences in the use of prescription drugs.
designCross-sectional population database analysis.
methodsData on all dispensed drugs in 2010 to the entire Swedish population (9.3 million inhabitants) were obtained from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. All pharmacological groups with ambulatory care prescribing accounting for >75% of the total volume in Defined Daily Doses and a prevalence of >1% were included in the analysis. Crude and age-adjusted differences in prevalence and incidence were calculated as risk ratios (RRs) of women/men.
resultsIn all, 2.8 million men (59%) and 3.6 million women (76%) were dispensed at least one prescribed drug during 2010. Women were dispensed more drugs in all age groups except among children under the age of 10. The largest sex difference in prevalence in absolute numbers was found for antibiotics that were more common in women, 265.5 patients (PAT)/1000 women and 191.3 PAT/1000 men, respectively. This was followed by thyroid therapy (65.7 PAT/1000 women and 13.1 PAT/1000 men) and antidepressants (106.6 PAT/1000 women and 55.4 PAT/1000 men). Age-adjusted relative sex differences in prevalence were found in 48 of the 50 identified pharmacological groups. The pharmacological groups with the largest relative differences of dispensed drugs were systemic antimycotics (RR 6.6 CI 6.4 to 6.7), drugs for osteoporosis (RR 4.9 CI 4.9 to 5.0) and thyroid therapy (RR 4.5 CI 4.4 to 4.5), which were dispensed to women to a higher degree. Antigout agents (RR 0.4 CI 0.4 to 0.4), psychostimulants (RR 0.6 CI 0.6 to 0.6) and ACE inhibitors (RR 0.7 CI 0.7 to 0.7) were dispensed to men to a larger proportion.
conclusionsSubstantial differences in the prevalence and incidence of dispensed drugs were found between men and women. Some differences may be rational and desirable and related to differences between the sexes in the incidence or prevalence of disease or by biological differences. Other differences are more difficult to explain on medical grounds and may indicate unequal treatment.
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