A study of codispensing with sodium alendronate in Australia

Aim To estimate the percentage of patients dispensed alendronate who were also dispensed another drug for treatment of an upper gastrointestinal disorder ('GI' drug). Methods The Australian Health Insurance Commission (HIC) Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) database was searched to identify a cohort of patients for whom alendronate or calcitriol had been dispensed and had also been dispensed a GI drug. Results The number of patients dispensed a GI drug were 6.7% for alendronate and 7.5% for calcitriol with H-2-receptor antagonists accounting for the majority of usage. This difference of - 0.8% (95% confidence interval -1.6, 0.1) is not significant. Conclusion There was no excess use of GI drugs in patients taking alendronate compared with those taking calcitriol and the Australian HIC PBS database is useful for identifying large numbers of patients who have been dispensed combinations of drugs.