Joelle Perri-Plandé1, Ghada Miremont-Salamé1,2, Joëlle Micallef3, Cameron Herman1, Marie Baumevieille1,2, Frédéric Abriat1, Maryse Lapeyre-Mestre4, Françoise Haramburu1,2, Amélie Daveluy5,6. 1. Centre d'addictovigilance, Service de pharmacologie médicale, CHU Bordeaux, Hôpital Pellegrin, CHU, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France. 2. Univ. Bordeaux, Inserm, Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Team, Pharmacoepidemiology, UMR 1219, Bordeaux, France. 3. Aix Marseille Univ, AP-HM, INSERM, Inst Neurosci Syst, Service de Pharmacologie Clinique et Pharmacovigilance, Marseille, France. 4. Centre d'Addictovigilance, CHU, UMR-INSERM 1027, Toulouse, France. 5. Centre d'addictovigilance, Service de pharmacologie médicale, CHU Bordeaux, Hôpital Pellegrin, CHU, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France. amelie.daveluy@u-bordeaux.fr. 6. Univ. Bordeaux, Inserm, Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Team, Pharmacoepidemiology, UMR 1219, Bordeaux, France. amelie.daveluy@u-bordeaux.fr.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Analgesics are among the most widely used drugs worldwide. This study describes the population treated with narcotic analgesics, their therapeutic indications and how the data have evolved over a decade. METHODS: A cross-sectional, national, multicentre survey study was conducted that included surveys taken every year from 2007 to 2019 in a national sample of 1500 randomly selected dispensing pharmacies. RESULTS: The mean age of patients, mostly women (around 60%), remained stable over the study period (63.2 ± 17.1 years in 2007, 68.2 ± 17.2 years in 2019). The proportion of patients treated for more than 3 months increased from 2007 to 2019. Most prescriptions involved morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl (98.5% of all prescriptions in 2019). Morphine prescriptions dropped dramatically from 49.6% (2007) to 32.3% (2019) of the total narcotic analgesics. Fentanyl prescriptions varied from 40.1% in 2007 to 32.2% in 2019. Prescriptions of oxycodone, regardless of the indication, increased steadily from 2007, from 8.3 to 34% in 2019, becoming the most prescribed narcotic analgesic for the first time since the beginning of the survey. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates how narcotic opioids are prescribed, thanks to the active participation of health professionals, and confirms the striking increase in the prescription of oxycodone.
INTRODUCTION: Analgesics are among the most widely used drugs worldwide. This study describes the population treated with narcotic analgesics, their therapeutic indications and how the data have evolved over a decade. METHODS: A cross-sectional, national, multicentre survey study was conducted that included surveys taken every year from 2007 to 2019 in a national sample of 1500 randomly selected dispensing pharmacies. RESULTS: The mean age of patients, mostly women (around 60%), remained stable over the study period (63.2 ± 17.1 years in 2007, 68.2 ± 17.2 years in 2019). The proportion of patients treated for more than 3 months increased from 2007 to 2019. Most prescriptions involved morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl (98.5% of all prescriptions in 2019). Morphine prescriptions dropped dramatically from 49.6% (2007) to 32.3% (2019) of the total narcotic analgesics. Fentanyl prescriptions varied from 40.1% in 2007 to 32.2% in 2019. Prescriptions of oxycodone, regardless of the indication, increased steadily from 2007, from 8.3 to 34% in 2019, becoming the most prescribed narcotic analgesic for the first time since the beginning of the survey. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates how narcotic opioids are prescribed, thanks to the active participation of health professionals, and confirms the striking increase in the prescription of oxycodone.
Authors: Irfan A Dhalla; Muhammad M Mamdani; Marco L A Sivilotti; Alex Kopp; Omar Qureshi; David N Juurlink Journal: CMAJ Date: 2009-12-07 Impact factor: 8.262