Objective: To evaluate the suitability of medication for an automatised dispensing system (ADS) for prescriptions by means of an indicator specially designed for this study.
Design: A descriptive, crossover study of the medicines contained in our ADS.
Setting: Raval-Sud Basic Health District, Barcelona.
Measurements and main results: The indicator was designed and its categories determined through the interaction of the following variables for each medicine: its most usual indication, length of treatment, intrinsic value and the theoretical source of prescription. Then all the medicines included in the ADS were codified and analysed with a computer program. The 728 analysed were classified in 8 different categories: those for acute pathology (32%), for subacute or acute pathology requiring long-term treatment (potentially chronic indication) (9%), for chronic pathology controlled at the primary care level (22%), for chronic pathology controlled in the hospital context (12%), for mental pathology (8%), for chronic pathology well controlled but with a low intrinsic value (3%), medicines of low intrinsic value for chronic pathology (degenerative pathology) without recognised pharmacological alternatives which the family doctor or specialist can prescribe (14%).
Conclusions: If medicines were better defined and codified, the proposed indicator would facilitate rapid discrimination of different groups of drugs' suitability or otherwise for ADS.