What is Pharmacoepidemiology?
'''Pharmacoepidemiology''' studies the use and effects of [[Drug|drugs]] on large groups of people. It assesses good and bad effects, and risks for humans while using a particular drug. Pharmacoepidemiology bridges [[pharmacology]] and [[epidemiology]] and borrows [[Scientific method|methodology]] from both of them. It uses '''descriptive''' epidemiological method by describing exposure to a drug and by calculating rates, e.g., incidence and [[prevalence]]. This produces a [[hypothesis]] about the drug, but does not test it. Pharmacoepidemiology also uses '''analytic''' epidemiological method by means of observation ([[case-control]] and [[cohort studies]]) and [[clinical trial]]<nowiki/>s. The analytic study compares an exposed group with a [[control group]] and tests the [[Statistical hypothesis test|hypothesis]]. Pharmacoepidemiology provides '''[[pharmacovigilance]].''' That is continual monitoring of unwanted effects and other safety-related aspects of drugs. Pharmacovigilance is conducted by reporting systems through [[Healthcare|health care]] professionals who report adverse drug reactions to the central agency. The central agency combines reports from many sources to produce a more informative profile for drug products. {{med-stub}} [[Category:Pharmacology]] [[Category:Epidemiology]]