title: Prescription of analgesics to patients in opioid maintenance therapy: a pharmacoepidemiological study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim of the present study is to determine the one year periodic prevalence of dispension of different analgesics to patients in long term opioid maintenance therapy (OMT). The secondary aim is to determine to which extent non-opioid analgesics are used as first line analgesics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study is a pharmacoepidemiological study with cross sectional data and cohort data. Data on patients in long term OMT in Norway were obtained from the complete national Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analgesics with the highest one year periodic prevalence were NSAIDs (22%), codeine-paracetamol combinations (9%), paracetamol (7%) and tramadol (2.5%). During both 2007 and 2008 a total of 12% of the study population received at least one dispension of another opioid in addition to the opioid used for OMT. In 55% of the cases where OMT patients had not received an analgesic the preceding year an NSAID was the first or only dispensed analgesic whereas paracetamol-codeine was the first or only dispensed analgesic in 29% of the cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study has documented an equally high one year periodic prevalence of opioid dispensions in OMT patients as in the general population as well as a high one year periodic prevalence of dispensions of NSAIDs. Dispension of codeine-paracetamol has a relatively high one-year prevalence and is frequently used as a first line analgesic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pain and Complex Disorders, St. Olav University Hospital, N-7006 Trondheim, Norway. olav.m.fredheim@ntnu.no
authors.forename: Olav Magnus S
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Fredheim
authors.forename: Petter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Borchgrevink
authors.forename: Berit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nordstrand
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Clausen
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skurtveit
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004363:Drug Utilization; D017723:Drug Utilization Review; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010594:Pharmacies; D017891:Pharmacoepidemiology / Q000379:methods; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid