Public Health and Epidemiology
Manabu AKAZAWA, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor
Appropriate medication use by patients is essential to maximize effectiveness, minimize potential harms, and control medical costs of pharmaceutical care. Our main interests are to conduct researches in pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics using data collected in the real-world clinical settings in order to create evidence useful for providing patient-centered care and making healthcare decisions.
We have currently involved in the following research projects:
1) Diabetes management program by community pharmacists: an intervention program is provided to improve patient knowledge of disease/medication, adherence and treatment effectiveness.
2) Drug utilization review for elderly patients: the brown-bag medication check-up program is provided as a tool for pharmacists to understand drug utilization patterns, reduce potential problems and provide appropriate advice to patients.
3) Administrative database analyses: inappropriate medication use and polypharmacy are identified among the elderly patients through database analyses. Associations with potential drug-related problems, health service utilization and medical costs are estimated using multivariable regression models adjusting for potential risk factors.
