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The ALS/MND prevalence in Sweden estimated by riluzole sales statistics
Author(s) -
Nygren I.,
Antonova K.,
Mattsson P.,
Askmark H.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2005.00384.x
Subject(s) - riluzole , amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , pharmacy , medicine , disease , family medicine
Objectives – To determine whether sales statistics for riluzole can be used as a marker for the prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/motor neuron disease (MND) in Sweden. Materials and methods – A questionnaire was sent to all neurological units in Sweden asking about the numbers of patients with ALS/MND and whether these patients were treated with riluzole. Sales statistics for riluzole were obtained from the 906 public pharmacies and 89 hospital pharmacies in Sweden. Results – Eighty percent of the neurological units answered the questionnaire. The estimated prevalence in September 2003 from the questionnaire was 5.4/100,000 inhabitants. The sales expressed in defined daily dose/100,000 inhabitants/day was 3.8. For the counties the correlation between these two parameters was 0.83. Conclusion – Estimated prevalence is highly correlated with sales statistics for riluzole. Riluzole sales statistics could be used as a crude marker for the prevalence of ALS/MND in Sweden.