Availability of secondary healthcare data for conducting pharmacoepidemiology studies in Mexico: a systematic review.

Aim: To investigate the data sources available in Mexico for real-world research. Materials & methods: A systematic literature review on PubMed, EMBASE and VHL using a combination of controlled vocabulary and keywords for the concepts of electronic health records, epidemiologic studies and Mexico was performed.

Results

A total of 331 articles and 89 conference abstracts reporting real-world studies were identified. These included 320 data sources: 142 unique named databases, 172 unnamed databases from specified providers, and 26 electronic medical record datasets. The main data sources came from healthcare institutions (35%), followed by government agencies (26%). The most frequent database design corresponded to surveys (34%) and disease registries (20%). Most databases included cohort studies (43%), population-based (25%) and cross-sectional studies (18%). Specific diagnostic tests (28%), access (22%) and pharmacological treatment (21%) were the most common issues analyzed in databases at patient-level data. Neoplasms, cardiac disorders and infections/infestations were the most common therapeutic areas analyzed in databases.

Conclusion

In Mexico, the use of databases has increased, driven by governmental and nongovernmental organisations and companies. However, further efforts are still needed to improve the quality and knowledge of real-world evidence.