Application of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance Studies

Pharmacoepidemiology has made an immense contribution toward improving prescribing and understanding medicine safety in clinical and pharmacy practice. Studies have identified prescribing patterns, medication errors, nonadherence to medications, contributed to advancement of postmarketing surveillance of medicines and medical devices, and have provided evidence on improving drug use and health outcomes. The findings from these studies have also served as a guide for the development of policies and position statements to promote the rational use of medicines and inform health policy. This chapter illustrates a variety of examples of the applications of findings from pharmacoepidemiology research to clinical and pharmacy practice. This chapter also briefly discusses how methods in pharmacoepidemiology have advanced over the last decade, reforms in data collection, and how research outcomes have influenced changes in health policy and influenced patient level care.