| 摘要 |
In the field of pharmacovigilance (monitoring of adverse events associated with the use of marketed prescription drugs), an improved method of detecting "signals" of abuse or diversion of pharmaceuticals is needed, in order to more reliably distinguish real anomalies in pharmaceutical consumption in particular locations from apparent anomalies which are statistical artifacts of high local concentrations of authorized pharmaceutical users. An improved method relies upon government statistics on adverse drug reactions and on census statistics, and employs a Poisson statistical model to adjust for both fixed effects and random effects, such as spatial relations between different locations. The more accurate "signals" provided by the improved method permit public health and law enforcement officials to allocate public resources more efficiently and effectively.
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