About the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD)
The NorPD (Norwegian title: Reseptregisteret) was established on 1st January 2004.
The Database only monitors drugs that are dispensed by prescription in Norway. Drugs that
are purchased without prescription (OTC drugs) are not included.
Aim of the NorPD
Collect and process data on drug consumption by humans and animals to:
Map usage in Norway and monitor trends
Be a resource for research in order to see positive and negative effects of drug consumption
Give health authorities a statistical base for quality control of drug use and for steering
and planning
Give prescribers a basis for internal control and quality improvements.
Use and delivery of data from the NorPD is evaluated according to the agreed aim.
What kind of data can you extract in this application?
Number of users, split by sex, age, county or health region
Number of users per 1000 inhabitants (prevalence per 1000)
Population base, split by sex, age, county or health region
Turnover by value (pharmacy retail price in Norwegian kroner)
Turnover by dosage (DDD – defined daily dosage)
For more detailed definitions, see
Definitions
Data are currently accessible from 2004 with an annual update in March/April for the preceding year.
Citations
All publications and presentations that use data from the NorPD must quote their source. The
following formulation can be used in the Methods section. “Data concerning ........was
extracted from the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD) at the Norwegian Institute of Public
Health.” If abbreviations are used, please refer to NorPD in both English and Norwegian texts.
In all publications, the Norwegian Prescription Database (or Reseptregisteret for Norwegian
text) should be included in the title or abstract text in order to be visible in PubMed
searches. If appropriate, expressions of gratitude in “acknowledgements” can use this
formulation: “The author wishes to acknowledge the services of the NorPD (and particularly
of NN).”
Please send a copy of the article or publication containing the data or information from
NorPD to:
Department of Pharmacoepidemiology
Norwegian Institute of Public Health
PO Box 4404 Nydalen,
N-0403 Oslo,
Norway
More Information
Data from NorPD is also available in an annual report. The first report was published in 2008: "The Norwegian Prescription Database 2004-2007" and is available at
www.fhi.no
in pdf format and hard copies from NIPH.
More detailed information from the NorPD can be provided upon application. As the guidelines are only available in Norwegian, please contact us with details of your request by e-mail:
reseptregisteret@fhi.no.
Please note that you will be charged a fee for this service, in line with the guidelines set
by the NIPH for data delivery.
Drugs with marketing approval in Norway
You can find information about drugs with marketing approval in Norway by the Norwegian
Medicines Agency at their website
www.legemiddelverket.no.
Total drug consumption in Norway
Information on trends in total drug sales can also be read in
"Drug Consumption in Norway"
published by NIPH. This statistic is based on sales of drugs from wholesalers to pharmacy/hospital and non-pharmacy outlets.
