[Prevalence of analgesic consumption in the northern of Portugal].
BACKGROUND
Analgesic drugs are frequently used in developed countries and their in take seems to be rising, despite the associated risks. Counselling about the appropriate and safe use of this medication should be based on the characterization of their consumption. The goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and to characterize analgesic consumption patterns in northern Portugal, analysing related socio demographic factors.


METHODS
This multicentric, observational, transversal and analytic study took place between May 2005 and May 2007, based on the lists of 45 family doctors in northern Portugal. The authors used a simple randomised sample of 4500 patients who answered a personal questionnaire. The chi-square test was used to compare proportions and the T student test and ANOVA were used to compare distributions. A significance level of 0.05 was adopted. In order to control possible confounders, a multivariate analysis was made.


RESULTS
The questionnaire was answered by 3492 adults; 30,8% (n=1077, IC 95% 29,3-32,4) of them had taken analgesics in the last fifteen days. Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and salicilates were the most frequently consumed (66%), followed by non opioids (46,6%). Opioids were consumed by 2,7% of the analgesic users, of which the most prevalent pattern of use was the "frequent consumption" (more than three ti mes per week). Most of the patients with a "frequent consumption" pattern used them for more than three months. Age and gender were in dependent risk factors for analgesic in take; women took three times more analgesics than men and consumption rose 1,02 ti mes per year.


CONCLUSIONS
The methodological variability found between this and other studies limited the comparison of our results with theirs. The only study with similar methods was performed in Sweden and found a higher prevalence (35%) of analgesic intake. In studies that only evaluated NSAID consumption, the results were similar to those of this study. Most of the stu dies were concordant about the higher analgesic in take by women, but not with its rise with age.
USF Famalicão I, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal. xanassreis@yahoo.com.br
Alexandra
A
Reis
Mariana
M
Tudela
Poliana
P
Jorge
Carmo
C
Novais
Clara
C
Fonseca
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011174:Portugal; D055815:Young Adult
D000700:Analgesics