[Prescription of aspirin in recent acute painful disorders: results of a survey among French general practitioners].
OBJECTIVE
To analyse recent acute painful conditions for which general practitioners (GPs) would prescribe aspirin.


METHODS
Prospective observational study investigating GPs' prescription of aspirin to adult patients with acute pain of < or =5 days of duration. Pain intensity was graded on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) prior to and at the 48th hour of aspirin therapy.


RESULTS
4765 patients (53.9% males), aged 42.6 +/- 14.7 years, with recent acute pain (2.2 +/- 1.2 days) were enrolled. Aspirin was prescribed at a mean daily dose of 3g, for musculoskeletal pain (40.8%), headaches and/or migraine (30.7%), ENT pain (23.2%) or dental pain (9.5%), some patients having complained of different types of pain. Pain relief was assessable in 3793 patients (79.6%). In this population, pain intensity was reduced by 65% within 48 hours, from 63.5 +/- 16.7 mm to 22.2 +/- 17.1 mm on the VAS. The rate of responders (decrease > or =75 % on VAS) was 39.6%; however it varied markedly across the different painful disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
Our survey suggests that GPs may prescribe aspirin for acute pain states similar to those for which they prescribe over-the-counter non aspirin non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Bannwarth
Bernard
B
Service de Rhumatologie, CHU de Bordeaux, Groupe Hospitalier Pellegrin, Bordeaux, France. bernard.bannwarth@u-bordeau2.fr
Allaert
François-André
FA
Dubreuil
Christian
C
Allain
Hervé
H
Azerad
Jean
J
Becq
Jean-Philippe
JP
Trèves
Richard
R
Valade
Dominique
D
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011446:Prospective Studies
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D001241:Aspirin